Fostering a community of inquisitive learners and independent thinkers, inspired to be their best selves, empowered to make a difference.
Spring/Summer 2025 The American School in Japan
LEON AURELIUS TAIRA ’19
Pro padel player on his fast-growing sport
ASIJ Alumni Impact Award recipient
From center stage to Japan Center
ASIJ Young Alumni Changemaker Award
Whether you are receiving your high school diploma at ASIJ, moving your tassel at McGill, or tossing your cap at Harvard Business School, we congratulate you!
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Alumni
Aurelius Taira ’19
Rachael Fuchs ’17 tells us about reshaping
Cadell Lee ’25's journey to West Point
Kyoko Takano on her career as a performer and co-director of ASIJ's
Chief Advancement Officer
Anne Cunningham
Director of Communications
Matt Wilce
Director of Giving
Nikki Torchon
Alumni Coordinator
Isabella Rogovin
Data Specialist
Catherine Iwata
Digital Communications Officer
Zelda Edmunds ’05
Graphic Designer
Johnson Lin
Student Design Intern
Niko Sano ’25
Editorial Inquiries communications@asij.ac.jp alumni@asij.ac.jp
The American School in Japan
1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi Tokyo 182-0031, Japan
The Ambassador is published by The American School in Japan
ASIJ alumni, families, faculty, and friends receive The Ambassador
Dear ASIJ Community,
As I write this message, spring has arrived in Tokyo and the cherry trees are turning from pink to green. Known in Japan as a symbol of transience, the cherry blossom reminds us that while change is inevitable, traditions endure, and we continue to move forward into the future. It is with that in mind that I reflect on this moment in time at ASIJ, a school rich with culture and over 120 years of history, but one always looking forward to what is next.
Our Head of School Dr Jim Hardin will leave us at the end of this school year and on behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to express our deepest gratitude for his leadership and unwavering commitment to our school over the past eight years. Jim has led ASIJ with vision, integrity, and a profound dedication to our students — putting Know, Value, Care at the center of our work.
Over the course of his tenure at ASIJ, Jim navigated the school through challenges, while always keeping us focused on what students need now and in the future. Jim guided our community through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic with grace and resilience, ensuring the continuity of our students' education and the well-being of our entire community were the priority. The quality of work that the team at ASIJ produced in readiness for our reopening in August 2020 was recognized internationally, which is a testament to the talent and commitment of the leadership and faculty at school.
Beyond this, Jim has also been a driving force in moving ASIJ’s curricular approach forward, spearheading the work the school did to develop its Strategic Design Framework and then define our commitment to Deep Learning and its implementation schoolwide in our Vision 2030. The work of Jim, the principals, and our faculty over the last few years positions ASIJ and our students well to thrive in a changing world.
The Board of Directors is committed to ensuring we continue to move forward with the great work already in progress, building on the strong foundation of the last few years, and ensuring a smooth transition for our incoming Head of School, Eric F Niles.
Please join me in recognizing Jim for his leadership, unwavering dedication to our students, and outstanding service to ASIJ. I hope that he — and any other families leaving the school this year — remember that “Once a Mustang, Always a Mustang!”
Sincerely and with gratitude,
Tom Silecchia Chair, Board of Directors
Matt
Wilce reports on Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin and American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown's recent visit to the Chofu Campus, which left students with life saving skills and a lasting imprint on our community of change-makers.
On January 2, 2023, during a Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field after making a routine tackle on Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Moments after standing up from the hit, Hamlin suddenly fell backward, going into cardiac arrest in front of a stunned crowd and national TV audience. Medical personnel rushed onto the field and performed CPR for nearly 10 minutes, using a defibrillator to restore his heartbeat before he was transported by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition. The game was suspended and later canceled, as players and fans alike grappled with the shock of witnessing such a life-threatening emergency. Hamlin’s collapse became a rallying point across the sports world, sparking widespread support. Following a remarkable recovery, Damar has become a powerful advocate for CPR awareness and youth outreach through his Chasing M’s Foundation.
“It was something that I definitely didn't want to allow to define me,” Damar tells us. “So, embracing the role of being an advocate for the things that saved my life was a space that was uncomfortable and tough to navigate. But
I knew the impact that it could make across the world if I did that.” It is in that capacity that Damar and the American Heart Association (AHA) came to campus to share Damar’s story with students and provide CPR training for over 400 students in Middle School.
Damar and Nancy began their visit, the second international event of this type they’ve held and the first in Asia, with a fireside chat in the ASIJ Theater hosted by emcee Mari Annis ‘25 co-leader of the Sports Med Club and Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ryosuke Suzuki. Sakura Durfee ‘25, also a leader of the Sports Med Club and Buffalo Bills superfan Jack Draper ‘26 provided the questions which focused on service and advocacy. “For me, giving back to the community was in my DNA. I've seen my parents give back my entire life. My mom worked for the community center since I was little, and now she owns two daycares where she's like the mother of the community. And I watched my dad in my early years host community days and bring people together in a way that I’d never seen my community come together in that format outside of sports.”
Nancy noted that Damar’s Chasing M’s Foundation preceded his cardiac arrest and recovery. “It was a foundation he had created for other things that were of interest to him, especially around youth, youth sports, helping young kids have the same opportunities in life that he has had. And so I think what you're seeing in Damar is that this is who he is as a person.” She added, “I'm so proud of him and how he's used this moment, you know, to be the global face of inspiration and the global face of resilience in so many ways.”
Damar told students that, “I've learned that no matter the platform, no matter how loud you think your voice is, your voice matters. And affecting one person is as important as affecting a million. As long as you can reach somebody, you're doing your part and don't feel like just because you see somebody making more impact or reaching more people by using their voice, that your voice doesn't matter at all.” Nancy added to that, saying, “take a moment to create a movement. And I think that's what we hope to do with all of you today. You know, every single one of you. You have friends, you have family members, and our goal is to help you be inspired to realize that learning this life saving skill of CPR will truly give you skills that could change somebody's life.”
In the following sessions in the Middle School, that was precisely what happened. Two hundred students in two separate sessions were given hands-on CPR training by the AHA team, inspired by Damar to learn this vital skill. Two high school volunteers Mia Levin ‘25 and Eiichiro Ishibashi ‘25 assisted with the demonstrations. The AHA, which has a presence in over 100 countries, generously donated the inflatable dummies used for the CPR training to the school for future use.
The visit ended with elementary school students sharing the Rajio Taiso exercises that they’d learned earlier in the year for sports day. Our Mustang mascot even put in an appearance on the field as they went through the popular Japanese exercise routine that’s broadcast on radio and television every morning. Later Nancy told Damar, We're going to start doing that every day. I'm calling you every morning. We're going to do this.”
At the end of the day Damar described his experience at ASIJ as “electric,” while Nancy commented that, “it just gives you great hope for the future when you see such smart young people so engaged and so passionate.”
Audiences followed the yellow brick road to ASIJ this spring to step into the magical world of The Wizard of Oz From the stage to behind the scenes, our high school cast, crew, and pit orchestra are bringing the Emerald City to life. Director Damon Shearer says, “Dorothy’s journey teaches us that home is the place where people celebrate you for being your unique self, encourage you to be brave, care for you with empathy and compassion, and defend you at all costs when all the odds are stacked against you.”
In January the Chofu Campus played host to over 20 teams from Guam, Thailand, and across Japan for the annual Kanto Classic Basketball Tournament. Over the course of three days, the Mustangs played hard in some nail-biting games with great support from the community.
The ELC Literacy Parade capped off an exciting Literacy Week for our youngest learners at the Roppongi Campus. Each budding bookworm's personality shone through their creative costumes as they proudly paraded around the area in an exercise that showcased reading and built their confidence.
How can song and dance help you with conflict resolution? The ES Musical Munchkin Mediation showed us the steps. When we caught up with Dorothy and the residents of Oz a year after they first met the Wizard, they were "fighting tooth and claws" and it took some guidance from the munchkins to get things back on track.
We Celebrated Earth Day at the Chofu Campus with student and club-led initiatives to educate and raise awareness about our energy consumption. These included a campus-wide blackout to reduce power usage that resulted in a saving of CO2 equivalent to us planting 160 trees. Thank you to the Sustainability Committee for their leadership in these efforts!
Three-time NBA champion, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Rick Fox kicked off this year’s Future Ready Day at ASIJ with an inspiring fireside chat on resilience, mentorship, and purpose. He challenged students to reflect on how they navigate challenges and make meaningful connections. Throughout the day, over 20 guest speakers—many ASIJ alumni and parents—shared their career journeys, helping students explore future pathways and the skills needed for an evolving world (see pg 54 for more).
Middle school students learned about some of the technology that the Osaka Expo will showcase and the innovative sustainability measures they are employing. Thank you to our Osaka Expo partners for their presentations and to mascot Myaku Myaku for visiting ASIJ. If you visit the Expo, look out for Lee McGuire ‘22 who will be staffing the US Pavillion.
Did you know there are more than 300 varieties of strawberries grown in Japan? Our second graders got to learn about one of these on their field trip to Ichigo Land in March. Kicking off their Pollinators Unit, students heard about the growing process from the farmers, and got to harvest their own berries to enjoy at home.
Matt Wilce and Isabella Rogovin speak to the 2025 Alumni Impact Award recipient Ken Fukuda ’89 about his work as a wildland firefighter.
For many of us, the path from high school to a fulfilling career follows a relatively linear trajectory. For Ken Fukuda ‘89, it was anything but.
Ken spent more than a decade finding his purpose before becoming a decorated wildland firefighter and a leader in hazardous fuels reduction. Today, as a task force leader with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ken is on the front lines of one of the most urgent environmental issues of our time. It was for this work that Ken was selected as the recipient of the 2025 ASIJ Alumni Impact Award.
The award is presented annually to recognize distinguished alumni from the wide and diverse community of Mustangs living around the globe. The award recognizes and honors alumni who have made a significant positive contribution in their field or pursuit, such as sustainability, community service, scientific/technological advancement, or the arts. The Awards Committee of the Alumni Council reviews nominations for both the Alumni Impact Award and Young Alumni Changemaker Award (see page 31) and votes to select the awardees each year.
"I never actually graduated from ASIJ," Ken says candidly. "My academics weren’t great, and I struggled with other issues growing up, making some poor choices. In 1989 I ended up in a reform school in Massachusetts trying to get my life back on track." Ken would remain there until 1992 before he moved in with his sister in Boston. He was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. “I still hadn't graduated high school and I didn't really have a path or know what I wanted to do at that point,” he shares.
Ken began his journey by earning his GED and completing an associate’s degree while working. That allowed him to transfer to Oregon State University where he studied wildlife science. It was a move that would change everything. "I knew I wanted to be outdoors," he says. "That’s all I really knew."
After graduating from OSU in 1998, Ken landed a job with the BLM, conducting wildlife surveys for sensitive species in the Pacific Northwest. Two years later, he “switched to doing surveys for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. At the time their species was in decline in the Pacific Northwest due to logging and habitat fragmentation.” Ken monitored their population and factors impacting their occurrence on land managed by the BLM. In 2001, he took advantage of training that the BLM offered to take on a secondary role as a wildland firefighter. Ken got his certification and in addition to his spotted owl work, he would spend the summers fighting fires.
"At first, it was a way to make a little extra money," Ken says. "But once I did it, I caught the fire bug. I was hooked." Since then, firefighting has become more than a secondary duty. It’s become his life’s work. Over the past two decades, Ken has traveled across the United States to combat increasingly intense and frequent wildfires. Crews regularly travel even further afield, as far as Australia, to support firefighting efforts internationally. "Last year alone, I worked over 1,000 hours of overtime across six different fire assignments," he says. "It's pretty much from July till the rain starts in October or November here that you're essentially on fire.” Ken goes where he’s needed moving from outbreak to outbreak to try to control or manage those fires. “You're on 14 days,
you take two days off, and then you're back on to your next assignment somewhere else,” he says.
Wildland firefighting is grueling work. Ken describes crews spending up to 21 consecutive days in the field, working 16hour shifts in some of the most dangerous terrain imaginable. Ken has done it all from fire line construction with shovels and chainsaws to aerial operations. “I've worked with aviation teams supplying troops with water or operating troop shuttles with helicopters and cargo missions using helicopters,” Ken notes. “I'm an engine captain, so if there's a need for an engine, I will staff an engine with other crew members to provide support.”
Now, as a task force leader, he coordinates crews and operations on complex assignments, with his sights set on further advancement. “I'm working my way up the ladder, and I'm currently a task force leader, which means I'm kind of managing the resources on fires and making sure objectives and strategic operations are met,” Ken says. “I'm working on becoming a division group supervisor at the moment — it's all through training that's provided through the Bureau of Land Management.”
Since 2002, Ken has also shifted his year-round focus away from the owl population to hazardous fuels reduction — preventative work that involves thinning forests and conducting controlled burns to reduce the risk of catastrophic
wildfires. Ken tells us the goal is to “reduce the amount of fuel available so that these catastrophic fires don't occur. The work is mostly localized around communities and strategic areas where fires can be stopped.”
"The work has changed," he notes. "Climate change has drastically changed the nature of fires. They've only gotten bigger, their duration longer, and the frequency of fires has increased." This impact for firefighters is longer shifts and working later into the summer to try and contain these fires. “Whereas fire season may have been four months out of the year,” Ken says “now it's extended to six months out of the year. And people are getting more fatigued.”
But while the challenges have grown, so has Ken’s sense of purpose. He speaks passionately about the Japanese concept of ikigai, which centers on finding meaning by combining what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for. “That's kind of how I see my firefighting — taking all the things into account and how I can make a difference in the world while doing something I love and being able to provide financially for my family. I think it's meaningful work,” he says. That support system is crucial. Ken credits his wife, who holds down her own full-time job and manages their two children while he’s away for extended periods, with making his work possible. "Having that strong foundation at home is everything," he says.
Although Ken was born in New Jersey while his Japanese parents Ryusuke and Julie Fukada were stationed overseas, he grew up in Tokyo. The family — Ken’s siblings Julie ‘83, Marie ‘84, Kimie ‘87 and Jon ‘92, all attended ASIJ — returned to Japan where his father completed his career as a banker.
Ken recalls his time at ASIJ with a mixture of fondness and humility. "Growing up in Japan gave me a worldview that I don’t think I could have gotten anywhere else," he says. "ASIJ was a cultural melting pot — kind of a microcosm of the world we're in today," he says. He credits two former ASIJ teachers, Craig Olstad (FF ‘86-’02, P ‘94 ‘95), who taught English and art teacher Ki Nimori (FF ‘60-’02, P ‘83 ‘84), as key mentors who helped him navigate a turbulent adolescence. "They exuded confidence and positivity," he says. "I really looked up to them. I think they had a big impact on me growing up."
Today, Ken's story offers powerful lessons for young people trying to find their way. "You’re not going to find your purpose overnight," he says. "It took me years. But if you follow your passion, stay open, and surround yourself with support, it will come."
Ken says, “find something that you're passionate about and at least try and see if it meshes with you, if it brings you happiness … All I know is that when I started working outdoors I knew I wanted to be outdoors.” He notes that, like many federal employees, he also feels the draw to public service.
For students interested in environmental or sustainability careers, Ken offers realistic but encouraging advice. "Be prepared for hard, physical work. It’s not easy. But if you love the outdoors and want to make a difference, there’s nothing more meaningful."
Ken hopes to return to Japan soon to reconnect with his roots. For now, though, his time is spent protecting forests and communities from fire, fueled by a sense of duty that burns brighter with each passing year.
"I may not have taken a traditional path," he says. "But I found my way. And I wouldn’t change a thing."
Pro padel player Leon Aurelius Taira ’19 talks to Matt Wilce about his career in one of the fastest growing sports
Tucked away in a residential part of Chofu, Captain Tsubasa Padel court is home to one of the increasing number of padel courts in Japan and the location of our interview with pro padel player Leon Aurelius Taira ‘19. A fixture on ASIJ’s tennis courts, former Boys Varsity captain Leon initially seemed to be on track to pursue a career in the more familiar racket sport. When Leon, who used the surname Hoy at school, first encountered padel as a child he thought it was cool, but it wasn’t until he rediscovered it later that his trajectory changed from tennis to one of the fastest growing sports.
Typically played in doubles on an enclosed court, the sport originated in Mexico in the late sixties and now counts more than 25 million players in over 90 countries. Recently included in the 2023 European Games, the sport is on track to achieve its goal of becoming an Olympic sport for the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane.
We spoke to Leon, who was 2019 Junior National Team Captain and has played for the Japan National Adult A Men's Team since 2020, about his pathway to discover his passion for padel and how he is combining that with studies and running his own business.
MW: How did you discover padel? What was your journey into the sport?
LT: I used to play tennis competitively my whole life, including during my ASIJ years. When I went to Spain in fourth grade
or fifth grade is when I actually met padel for the first time. I vividly remember how it was in Barcelona, when I went to my tennis academy, there were just a lot more people playing padel than tennis, so I was super surprised. I asked my coach about it because I’d never heard, never seen this sport before. And he also told me that padel was more popular than tennis already in Spain. So I tried it out with my coach and I loved. There was nothing like it in Asia at that time, so it was just one of those, you know, core memories from Barcelona for like a long time.
MW: When did you pick it up agan?
LT: I think it was mid 11th grade or 12th grade when I knew I would go to university and I had it all sorted out and I had a little bit more relaxed time on my hands. At that time, basically I toned down a little bit on tennis. I was focused more on academics and pursuing other things, but I always loved competitive sports and I missed that competitiveness of things. So I was looking to get back into tennis to compete more in college, but then one of my old coaches remembered me playing padel, and he called me up and he said, you know, one of the places I work built a padel court in Tokyo for the first time. Then I just fell in love with this sport. I never saw myself playing competitively, but things happened one after the other. I ended up competing, went to Junior World champs, and then I continued to compete in Japan. Now I play professionally in Asia and other parts of the world.
MW: How do you balance playing professionally with continuing to study? You're still pursuing a degree at Keio, right?
LT: It's my last semester, actually. I don't know if I'm the best example, but I took a lot of gap years, took a lot of semesters where I like, you know, did half the credits, didn't do full credits. I don't want to say Covid was a good thing for me because it was tough for a lot of people, but it did kind of help me out because a lot of the online focus transferred into me being able to compete. I think it was just being honest and communicating with my teachers and professors helped, because Keio doesn't have an official release for professional events. So it was more just me going to them very clearly at the beginning of the semester, explaining what I'm doing.
MW: How did you decide to make the move from just playing for fun to going pro?
LT: I think it was my third year of university when I wanted to take a gap year and see other parts of the world. I was born and raised in Tokyo, and I never lived outside of Tokyo. My whole life I'd been traveling, I'd been competing with tennis all over. But I really wanted an experience, one to just learn a new language and to broaden my world view. So I decided to move to Spain for a year. And at that time, I wanted to try to do it myself. So I cold called and cold emailed all these different companies asking for a partnership or a sponsorship. And I was able to fund my year and a half there in Spain, fully from the support of Japanese corporations. I was probably the
first one in Japan to ever actually make money out of padel. So that was my experience. Those companies still sponsor and help me out today. But that was like my first step where I decided, okay, you know what? It was fun competing. But now I compete for life too.
MW: What would you say your strongest shot is?
Leon: I have this shot called the vibora, or called the snake shot. You basically hit the ball with a lot of spin and it bounces low against the walls. I'm obviously not the tallest player in Asia, but I think my speed and agility and my, you know, that shot as a basis really is effective and it helps me out with my game a lot.
MW: A lot of young athletes talk about mental health in sport. How do you prepare mentally to play in matches and tournaments?
LT: Personally, trying not to prepare too much and overthink is really important for me. I'm not playing at a level like, let's say soccer, American football or basketball, for example. Obviously, it's a very quickly growing sport and it is a sustainable lifestyle, but it's nothing extraordinary like some other sports…. my whole theory is that I want to prepare the best I can, but I don't want my preparation to be an excuse for not performing at tournaments. So I think that mentality helps me a lot—as in, I'm confident in my preparation but also I acknowledge that things that I didn't think would happen could happen.
MW: What do you do between tournaments?
LT: As an athlete, I think I'm unique because I combine my sponsorships with actually helping these companies expand overseas. So I actually run a few businesses myself, but mainly we help with the export of Japanese quality products. For example, one of my main sponsors is Sakai Takayuki, which is a famous knife brand in Osaka. They target professional chefs and knives for all the well-known restaurants in Japan. I also have a matcha brand and I work with wagyu, for example. I combine the network of people I meet through padel with helping these Japanese businesses expand overseas. So for me, it's like a combination. I think padel helps my business, and my business also helps me continue as a padel player.
MW: What's the most impactful thing that a coach has said to you?
LT: Oh, that's a good question. My Spanish coach told me a lot that, as much as it is important to push things, it's also important to know the timing of letting things go and pulling back. And that was quite an important lesson for me, because I think as a kid I was pretty good at doing more and always trying to just do more in a lot of ways. And I think I found it in my game and in my life that I can get quite easily overpacked. I like to push myself a lot. In padel, for example, they taught me it also requires a lot of skill to pull back. So as an athlete, it's important to manage some times to rest well, sometimes even in your game of padel too. Not always playing fast and aggressive, but sometimes it's important to play slow and
defensive because the times you play slower, or the times that you slow down your life sometimes actually helps you to take a step back and accelerate in some other area. So I think in my life, what I value now a lot is just not only trying to, you know, push a lot of things, but it's important to take a rest, take a step back, and kind of look at yourself from a bird's eye view.
MW: Looking back on your time at ASIJ, what were the standout parts of your experience?
LT: Well, overall, I think all my teachers were super nice and I was there since elementary school. So that's 12 years, right? It gave me quite a diverse and global mindset because I think a lot of teachers never really said ‘no’ in a good way…. Actually one of my biggest strengths as a person is sales, presenting in front of people. I think I found I had a lot of passion for that since I was a kid. But I vividly remember that even in elementary school we had presentations, we had debates and activities that really pushed you to present your opinion to others.
MW: Who are your sporting heroes?
LT: Keisuke Honda for sure. Keisuke is actually a good friend of mine. I admire his approach to doing sports and business in Japan, he's very prominent in that. The ways we pursue business are quite different, but I think he teaches me a lot. And then I respect the way he thinks and his visionary mindset.
MW: How did you get connected?
LT: I actually worked for him. He had some job posting, which I did not qualify for, but I decided to apply. And then I went in there and they thought it was hilarious. I said a lot of good things but they said the position was more for someone in what they described as the defensive side of the business. They said they were not trying to take an offensive approach. I'm not a defensive person, so I didn't think I was their guy either. So it was weird because I applied for something I wasn't supposed to do, and I just kind of half rejected them. But I'm pretty sure Keisuke heard about it. And thought it was hilarious. And that was the start. I met him and since then we've done a few projects together.
MW: What would you say your long term goals are?
LT: Well, I mean, padel was actually officially selected for the Asian Games in 2030 in Qatar. It's already been selected for Europe and in Africa too. So I think expanding in Asia is the next step. And then padel is planning to get into the Olympics in 2032 — knock on wood hopefully in Brisbane. I think the biggest thing for me is I want to set a good example of how athletes can play sports, but not only limit themselves to sport, but also strive in a business field and world too. A lot of gold medalist Olympian champions, people who've been amazing athletes, struggle in their second career, and quite a lot of them don't have work. Some of them have mental health issues because they seem like they already peaked in their 20s. I saw very horrible examples of athletes'
post-professional careers, and I think sports sounds super cool and being an athlete sounds super cool when you are playing, but it's also very important to see which direction your life is heading. So my goal in my twenties is there's a few products I do already that I want to help expand. Obviously starting a business myself is one thing, but I would like to reach a point in my twenties where I can do at least one exit of a company — so build it enough to be able to sell and have that as a track record. And from my thirties, I think I want to continue my entrepreneurship and go into projects that connect a lot of different people through sports within Asia, out of Asia too, and develop global business.
MW: What advice would you give to somebody from ASIJ looking to go into either business or sport?
LT: I think it is to take the initiative. Don't wait for people to give you opportunities because opportunities are made by yourself. I believe that 100%. I think if you go to ASIJ, you're already quite qualified, as in you're well rounded enough, you're educated, you have a global mindset. I think ASIJ gives you the fundamentals of what you need to thrive.
What does success look like in a world where knowledge is abundant, work is fluid, and uncertainty is constant?
Since its founding in 1902, ASIJ has witnessed each generation redefining success in response to the opportunities and challenges of their time. For decades, success for many often looked like a straightforward academic and professional trajectory—strong grades, college acceptance, and a stable career. But in a world where learning is continuous, industries are evolving in unpredictable ways, and resilience is just as important as expertise, our definitions of success now and in the future are changing.
At ASIJ, we recognize that we need to take a broader view of success—one that values academic achievement, adaptability, purpose, and well-being in an era of accelerating change. Our learning leadership has begun that work in our divisions, identifying what success looks like at different developmental stages. For our youngest learners at the Early
Learning Center, success begins with emotional connection and embodied learning—not academic acceleration. Success at that age depends on relationships—not routines—and on honoring each child’s unique strengths. For our high schoolers to be successful in college and the world of work, they will need the capacity to understand and ethically use AI tools; otherwise we are preparing students for a world that no longer exists.
As we move toward a more human-centered, future-ready vision of education at ASIJ, our goal is to ensure our students are not just prepared for what comes next, but equipped to define success on their own terms. With that in mind, we asked various members of our community for their views on what success looks like to them. Here are their answers.
Success is having a positive mindset, even when something feels tricky. It’s saying, ‘I’m still learning’ instead of ‘I can’t do it.’ Success is asking questions, listening carefully, and finding your voice to explain your thinking or to share your feelings. Success looks like collaboration — students working together to help a friend or to create something with their classmates. More than anything, success in first grade is growing as a learner and as a person.
—Josh Miles (First Grade Teacher)
Success for a middle school student involves leading a balanced life incorporating academic challenge, after school activities and clubs, a lunch time for fun and friends and classrooms which give plenty of practice with our Portrait of a Learner competencies. In Middle School students are building an understanding of who they are and their impact on their community and the world. Balancing challenge with well being, is a crucial element of a successful middle school experience.
—Pip Curtis
the time with my athletes, my teams, to set goals for the season, and we determine our successes for the season. Athletics puts students in such authentic and novel situations where grit and resilience are absolutely necessary to accomplish the goal. Absolutely necessary. It also makes them accountable to their peers. It gives them pride and self-esteem, and I love being a part of that. I believe deeply in the importance of athletics to the development of young people and student-athletes at ASIJ, and I believe it's because of the ways in which athletics can teach lessons that go beyond the classroom.
—Matt Kuykendall (Varsity Girls Basketball Coach, High School Deep Learning Seminar)
Success in Deep Learning Seminars is defined by a student’s increased capacity for selfknowledge and authentic understanding. This course is driven by life’s most meaningful questions, questions that resist simple right or wrong answers. Students are challenged to explore who they are and what truly matters to them. Success is not measured traditionally, but by each student’s ability to discover their own answers to these questions, uncover their deepest motivations, and live more fully in alignment with their personal truths, knowledge, and values. Because this journey is deeply personal, success looks different for every student. The goal is to guide and support each learner as they create their own unique path toward greater self-awareness, meaning, and purpose.
—Maka Black Elk (High School Deep Learning Seminar)
At the beginning, I measured my success by the number of awards but now I measure it by the number of people I am able to support and help have a positive experience in MUN... I also measure my success by the growth of the club and our annual ASIJMUN conference.
—Mirabel ’26
(Model United Nations Secretariat)
One of the biggest focuses for us was that our biggest competitor isn't necessarily our team on the other side of the court, but ourselves... and the girls fought that battle every game they played and overcame. You cannot be a successful volleyball team without everybody being on board. You need all six players on the floor for that win. One person can't win it. You have to rely and trust your teammates to be successful.
—Jennifer Delane (Varsity Girls Volleyball Coach, High School PE/Health)
I'm just so proud when the students feel good about what they've done, when they feel good about the debate they had, when they feel that they've worked cohesively as a team, whether they won or lost. I mean, obviously we want them to win, but it's more important that they felt like they did the best that they could do in that moment.
—Ryan Carey (Debate Coach, High School Social Studies)
Success is being a cohesive team and being able to communicate with one another, whether it's viewing criticism as constructive, rather than just criticism, or having fun and being able to enjoy playing with one another.
—Julia ’25 (Girls Field Hockey Co-Captain)
Students in the high school’s Creative Non-Fiction class share personal essays exploring the theme of identity as part of their writing work. The class is part of the Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA), which offers high school students the opportunity to pursue university accredited courses. ASIJ is one of over 200 partner schools globally that offer such courses. One of the essays chose to be published in The International Educator this year was an exploration of identity by Noah Kato ’25.
New York City, March 7th, 2007. Roughly four pounds each, there are three babies; two girls and one boy. The names—Maria, Reina, and Noah. The family name on the birth certificates don’t match these names at all. Kato.
* * *
Nagasaki, August 9th, 1945. It’s a busy morning; children head to school, workers shuffle towards their factories, and women weave through the marketplaces, baskets in hand. Suddenly, the air sirens blare, and preparations for the evacuation of the children are made. A quiet, looming sense of dread fills the air.
Then, the all-clear signal. A sigh of relief. The streets come to life again as people go about their day; the B-29 bomber is a just tiny speck in the sky, miles away, cloaked by the thick white clouds looming over the region.
Nagasaki, 11:02 AM, August 9th, 1945. A blinding flash. A powerful blast. The “Fat Man” unleashes its unimaginable force upon the city below. Buildings are vaporized and people are reduced to shadows. Those are the lucky ones. As flames spread across the city, the landscape turns hellish. Survivors trudge around aimlessly, their scorched skin hanging off of their limbs, their bright red bodies a collage of glass shards, wood splinters, and flesh.
As the city picks up its pieces, more smoke fills the airthis time, from the funeral pyres. Among them, a young girl rests on an unlit pyre, dressed up in a kimono. It’s a strangely beautiful sight; one might even think she’s sleeping. The family prepares to bid their farewells, and the pyre is lit. The air is filled with the climbing smoke and cries of anguish as the smoke carries loved ones away.
News of the young girl’s death reaches a family in Tokyo. They had recently taken the long journey from Nagasaki to Tokyo, leaving behind the birthplace of their two-year-old daughter, Sachiko, for work. The news hits hard; the young girl had always adored Sachiko, treating her like a little sister. As Sachiko grows up in post-war Japan, she builds a resentment towards America and her heart aches every time the bells ring on August 9th, yearning for this girl who had showered her with so much love.
During breaks, my Japanese classmates bombarded me with questions.
"How do you say _____ in English?"
"Do you have _____ in America?"
“Why do you speak English?"
I'd often struggle to answer these answers, overwhelmed by the constant stream of questions. I looked at my sisters, but they just returned the same puzzled expression.
After the other children got bored of our silence, they went off to enjoy their break time, and it felt like I was back in language class. Conversations would swirl around me, but I'd only catch bits - a word here and there. I smiled and nodded, hoping that my confusion wasn't obvious to the smiling faces around me.
Back at my grandma's house, with just my sisters, I was a bit more comfortable with my Americanness. I’d speak in English with my sisters and we'd listen to American music together in the living room. But I remember the one time Maria and I pulled out our computers in front of her. * * *
Sachiko’s grandchildren have stayed with her quite a while now. It’s the annual summertime visit. But she can’t help but think “why couldn’t they have been raised here?”
Tokyo, summertime, 2015. My siblings and I were well into our annual summer visit to my grandma’s house. Though we lived in New York, breaks and vacations were always reserved for Japan and the precious time with our grandma, Sachiko - our babachan. During the day, we were off to Japanese public school. There, we realized just how American we were.
I began to notice how much I stood out. I observed my classmates, trying to copy their mannerisms. During reading, I desperately hoped that I wouldn't get called upon. As my classmates read out the passages, my eyes frantically darted from one part of the page to another, trying to find something familiar, but their pace kept me struggling to keep up. I’d wait for my classmates to turn the page so that I could try to follow again, but the Japanese on the textbook page was incomprehensible, and I'd start searching the page again for a familiar word.
It’s time for the kids to get some work done and Noah pulls out his computer from his bag. The computer case - stars and stripes. Maria follows suit pulling out her computer from her bag. The same case. The same flag. Sachiko clenches her jaw. Her eyes narrow. The whole morning, the constant rambling in English was like daggers to her ears. The loud, obnoxious American music filling the air taunted her. She feels the room closing around her, and her eyes flick back and forth between the computer cases. The bright flag stares back, almost taunting her. She feels heat rising to her head.
She explodes. "You guys really love America, don’t you?" she sneers. "You know you guys aren't Americans," she starts blurting out. "Your mom is Japanese. Your dad is Japanese. How could you be American then?” She stands up, towering over the three children. “You are Japanese by blood. No matter what your mom tells you, you're Japanese."
She gestures to the computer cases. "Take it off ." The kids hurriedly try to take the computer case off. She watches as Maria's clumsy fingers tug and tug at the case latched onto her computer. It stubbornly clings to the laptop. Maria’s face flushes red, desperation mounting as she puts all of her strength into it.
Snap!
The star-spangled banner splits into pieces. The kids quietly gasp, eyes wide open and staring at the fragments of the flag now littering the carpet. This reminds them. They’re not American.
* * *
We’re not American. I’m reminded of a birthday party, sometime in 2014.
We all stood around the table, buzzing as the candles on the birthday cake were lit, their warm glow illuminating the faces standing around the table. The room started to fill with excited giggles and chatter. As the first notes of “The Birthday Song” started to ring out, I eagerly joined in, our voices echoing loudly as the birthday boy sheepishly waited for us to finish.
But something’s not right. After the first verse, someone yelled “Chinese Chicken!”. Giggles followed, and after each verse, more and more voices joined the chorus, the chant growing louder and louder.
“Happy Birthday to you,--” “Chinese Chicken!”
“Happy Birthday to you,--” “Chinese Chicken!”
“Happy Birthday to dear Elijah,--” “Chinese Chicken!”
“Happy Birthday to you,--” “Chinese Chicken!”
The last chant is the loudest, their voices ringing. I look at the birthday boy - Elijah. Elijah Lin. He looks a bit confused, though his smile is still somewhat hanging there. Though I didn’t feel it until later, a frustration grew in me. Even at school, this happened.
A boy would pull his eyelids back, singing “Ching Chingaling Ling Ling”, dancing crudely around the room. Another group of children paraded around the classroom, dancing and chanting “Big Fat Buddha! Big Fat Buddha!” The teachers never really said anything.
But the other Asian kids and I would just make eye contact - a quiet acknowledgment of this shared frustration.
Sometimes, faculty and staff would even join in. A lunch lady took a Yankees hat off of my friend, Charles, and placed it on my head, squeezing it down.
"Japanese Yankee!" “Japanese Yankee!" she pointed and laughed.
She'd also make jokes to our faces, pulling her eyelids out
in different directions, joking about how her parents were Japanese or Korean.
When we’d sit down at our lunch tables, things weren’t much different. Kids would stare at our lunches, sometimes covering their noses or even exclaiming “Ew!”
One time, a kid asked me to share some of my lunch with him. He took a piece from my lunchbox and put it in his mouth. Almost immediately, his face contorted into a grimace and he sprinted to the nearest trash can to spit it out. As he walked back from the trash can, his nose crinkled in disgust, his tongue sticking out.
Another kid pointed at my lunchbox.
I had furikake, a Japanese condiment sprinkled on to add flavor to my white Japanese rice. “Why are you eating fish food?” he asked, staring at the rice.
The question hung in the air as I struggled to come up with a response.
My face flushed, and I hastily shoved the rest of my rice into my mouth, trying to make it disappear as quickly as possible. When I got home, I asked my mom to put the furikake packet separately in the lunchbox so that I could sprinkle it myself.
On most occasions, I left the furikake packet untouched in the lunchbox and stuck with just plain white rice. Sometimes, I would even leave my whole lunch untouched, not wanting to invite any glances, questions, or snickers. When I got home, I stuttered my way through excuses and watched as she quietly lifted my lunch out of my bag. The time and care she put into preparing it showed with the neatly arranged components: the colorful assortment of vegetables, the meat, and the rice. With a gentle sigh, she emptied the contents into the trash can. I winced at the sound of the food hitting the trash bag. I couldn't look at my mother. I was speechless but I wanted to tell her so bad that I really did love Japanese food. * * *
In Japan, they treat food with respect. They are taught to eat every last grain of rice. To leave food; to waste it, is to be disrespectful.
As Sachiko sits around the dinner table with her family, she wants to keep these Japanese values present. From a young age, manners are incorporated into every aspect of the process of eating:
- You start with “Itadakimasu” before you eat: I will humbly receive this (meal). - Good posture: Sit straight.
- Hand placement and movement are scrutinized: don't
put your elbows on the table. Bring the food to your mouth, not vice versa.
- Don't eat food directly from the platter. Put it down on your own plate first.
- Don't stab your food with your chopsticks.
Sachiko carefully watches her grandchildren as they begin to eat the delicious Japanese dishes prepared by their mother.
"Elbows off the table," she chides. "Don't bring your face that close to the plate." An eye roll. A sigh. They reluctantly comply.
All Sachiko wants to do is to properly teach them these values. She's not just passing down manners - she’s passing down her family's culture, their history. Why can’t they see that?
Her frustration grows through the dinner as she watches her own Japanese grandchildren struggle to piece sentences together to converse with her.
Always some English word slips into a sentence. Always looking to their mother for help. Her heart sinks with every additional English word breaking the beautiful flow of a Japanese sentence. Now, it’s her turn to sigh. The tangled mess of English and Japanese flew past her ears.
“I didn’t understand anything,” she says.
I’ve been trying all evening to speak in Japanese to my grandmother, but as my sisters and I talk about our AP classes or our college applications, the difficult vocabulary isn’t easily translated.
Having no choice, I sprinkle a few English words in my sentences, hoping that the rest of my efforts in Japanese will make up for my limited vocabulary.
The English is met with sighs. She remains stubborn, asking me to repeat myself in full Japanese. I feel deflated. Why can’t she see that I’m trying?
My sister, Reina, has been getting increasingly agitated as well. Her manners were picked on practically the whole night, and her explanations were met with blank stares and sighs.
Mid-sentence, she was interrupted by my grandmother. “I didn’t understand anything,” my grandmother remarks.
Reina’s smile fades. “Whatever. It’s fine,” she mutters, turning her eyes to her food and completely abandoning her attempts to converse.
The lively dining table turns quiet, and the awkward silence is only broken by a small conversation between my siblings and I.
A few English words here and there turns into whole sentences. In a couple minutes, we’re having a full conversation in English among ourselves.
My grandmother takes a final sigh and stands up. She walks towards the living room door and walks out. The dining table goes quiet. I hear her footsteps echo down the stairs before the front door opens, then closes.
A heavy silence falls over the table. We failed her. As I shovel the rest of my dinner down, I think back to all the times my grandmother had tried to share her “Japaneseness” with us.
One of our first Augusts with her, she pulled out an illustrated book about the Atomic bombs, explaining it to us with tears in her eyes. We embraced her as she shared stories and photographs of loved ones she’d lost in the war - her friend, her uncle.
During Obon, she made us all Yukata (casual kimonos) by hand, carefully cutting and sewing the beautiful fabric and took us to the summer festivals.
As I realize how hard she tried, I want to mirror her effort. It won’t be easy, but I want to do better. I won’t let her down anymore. Tomorrow, I’ll start again. Tomorrow, I’ll keep speaking Japanese. I’ll practice my manners. I’ll ask her for her stories.
Selected work from this year’s Creative Non-Fiction classes is published in the anthologies Reverie and Komorebi. Both are available in the Mustang Market on campus or online via this QR code. Proceeds help fund the publications of students' work next year.
As Japan Center Co-director Kyoko Takano prepares to retire, she speaks to Matt Wilce about her career as a theatrical performer and how that led to her work at ASIJ.
“Ihated my voice,” Kyoko Takano tells us as we sit down to talk about her career as a performer and how that led her to ASIJ’s Japan Center, where she is co-director with Mariko Yokosuka. “My voice was ugly, husky,” she says,describing how she felt on hearing a recording of herself at a friend's party in kindergarten, yet it was ultimately what gave her success in her career. As a child, she struggled to sing the girls' parts in songs and she was hesitant to sing in front of her classmates. In fourth grade, she remembers listening to the lunchtime announcements and the “beautiful voices” of the students chosen to speak and so she applied to be an announcer in the hope she could change her own voice. Although she wasn’t selected, the teacher asked her to consider taking on the role of the postman and to lend her voice to that. Although she still felt she sounded ugly, everyone else loved the character and it went very well. That was the first indication that Kyoko was a performer at heart.
In middle school, she discovered that she could in fact sing and describes the moment when she was free to try a song that fit her range for the first time as “eye opening.” It was at that time that she also discovered Takarazuka Revue through her friend’s mother who was a fan of the all-female theater form. The Kansai-based musical theater troupe produces lavish Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, and Japanese folktales. As a self-described tomboy with a deep voice, Kyoko found herself drawn to the performances, which feature female actors playing male parts and she was determined to join them. Her parents had other ideas and her father, who was an elementary school principal, wanted his daughter to attend a prestigious university and become an educator.
In alliance with her sister, who was also a fan of Takarazuka, Kyoko began to plot how she could make her dreams reality. To placate her parents, she passed the exam for a good high school and enrolled there while she focused on saving her money to take ballet, tap dancing, and singing lessons. She applied to the Takarazuka Music School, was accepted, and in defiance of her father insisted that she quit regular school and attend the special program rather than wait until after graduation. Her mother convinced her husband to allow Kyoko to make the move, although he refused to talk to his daughter for a period of time after, ultimately reconciling with her later once it was clear she’d found her life’s passion.
Kyoko describes the culture shock of Takarazuka's strict discipline as “like army training” saying “I had to wake up around 4:30 or 5am in the morning and clean first for one and a half hours and then start class.” The emphasis on discipline, respecting those senior to you, and rigorous training gave her what she calls a “concrete foundation” for later success. “Once we became performers, it was totally different. You have to be creative, flexible and I realized, okay, I can do that because my base is strong.”
Kyoko made her stage debut after two years at school but soon took a time out to make her TV debut in 1980’s NHK morning drama Niji o Oru. She was excused from theatrical performances for six months to film the show, which was set in the world of Takarazuka, starring Misako Konno. Following that, Kyoko returned to the stage and in her third year she passed the audition to become the second male lead. Kyokyo would go on to play many male roles over the next eight years under her stage name of Ray Sanjo.
Kyoko was on track to continue ascending the levels to become a top star in the company when things took a turn of fate, one that would ultimately lead her to ASIJ. “I was 25 or 26 when I met my future husband, Roy, through my roommate's brother at a wedding,” she says, noting that there wasn't really any connection between them at that time. Later, her roommate brought her mother and Roy to see a performance of Kyoko’s and that was when things changed. “Roy felt like I was a different type of girl that he’d never seen and so he was so curious about me and started talking to me,” she says. As the relationship progressed she had to make a decision about whether to leave the theater to get married and start a family or continue to pursue her career. Love won out and Kyoko stepped away from the stage.
“I just took a break because I wanted to focus on raising my children. And I moved from Osaka to Tokyo and everything was new to me,” she says. “I still wanted to pursue performing and I kept going to the theater to see my friend's performance, but I was kind of jealous.” Her husband, who had spent time in the United States, was keen that their two daughters Yayori ‘07 and Mimi ‘ 10, grew up with a global mindset and so they looked at sending them to international school. At first the thought of entering an English speaking environment was daunting, but Kyoko approached it with her usual tenacity and threw herself into the community at ASIJ.
Kyoko AKA Ray Sanjo during her Takarazuka years.
“I carried a dictionary everywhere,” she says, “and I tried to get involved in as many school events as I could to hear the conversation.” She also signed up for English lessons while her daughters were at school. “I did my best to be able to communicate at school.” Volunteering at school in various role on the PTA proved to be a great way for Kyoko to connect with the community and she embraced the opportunity to make friends, work in the classroom, and share her understanding of Japanese culture. “That made me eager to learn more about my own culture because I wanted to share it with others,” she says, noting that although her mother was a tea ceremony and ikebana teacher, Kyoko herself had preferred to focus on more Western arts growing up. “I started to search more deeply into that part of Japanese culture. If I had stayed only in Japanese society, I probably wouldn't have done that,” she says. “So that's a big part of my appreciation of being in an international environment.”
Although Kyoko had put her professional career on hold, ASIJ presented a pathway back to performance when Kindergarten teacher Susan Huber (FF '88-'17 P '00 '05 ) asked her to present Nihon Buyo, a type of traditional Kabuki-style dance performance, to her class. Kyoko had leared the dance style as part of her Takarazuka training from the age of 16 and she partnered with Saori Mine, a former Takarazuka star and Nihon Buyo master, to start a Nihon Buyo club in the Elementary School. After Saori passed away, Kyoko began
to work on becoming a Nihon Buyo master herself, working with the Hanayagi School of the artform. Under the tutelage of Juraku Hanayagi, Kyoko worked as his assistant during the classes and practiced herself, turning the initial part of the pandemic when she was at home into an opportunity to devote extra time to the dances. She eventually passed the Hanayagi School exam and received her natori or professional name as a mark of her achievement. She made her debut at the National Theater in Tokyo in February 2023 in a Kabukistyle performance as Hanayagi Raku Sanjyo.
In addition to to Nihon Buyo, Kyoko would also lend her performing expertise to many of the high school musicals at as well as the annual Kyogen performances. While she was responsible for the choreography for many of the shows, she took on full directorial responsibilities for Me and My Girl in 2022 and Legally Blonde in 2023. “With a live performance you have to focus everything in readiness for the performance. And when you make a mistake, it's a mistake. But you can learn from that — that is kind of real life,” she says. It is the growth that she sees in the performers and the sparkle in their eyes when they achieve something they’ve been striving for that brings her joy.
She shares a similar passion for Kyogen, the program started by Don Berger (FF ‘59-’93) in 1978 for the School’s 75th Anniversary. “I did kyogen on the TV back in 30 years
ago and I had training at the Takarazuka school. So I had a little bit of experience andnI started to help the students with how to produce their voice and how to be present on the stage.” She became more involved with the program after her daughter Mimi, who now teaches Japanese in the Elementary School, graduated. For the last decade, she has worked with members of the Japanese language faculty to preserve and grow one of ASIJ’s unique cultural programs. Last year, the Kyogen Club’s work was recognized when they received the Future Award from the Classical Japanese Culture Foundation Awards Committee.
Around the same time that she became more involved with Kyogen, another opportunity at school presented itself to Kyoko with the creation of the Japan Center. Opened in 2015, the Creative Art and Design Center featured a designated space to support cultural activities for the first time. Kyoko and Mariko Yokosuka, her co-director of the new Japan Center, were tasked with developing a program to share Japanese cultural activities and embed them in the curriculum. “My strong passion is my Japan Center work because I feel although I'm Japanese living in a global society, my identity is Japanese. To be able to give the opportunity to students to understand the deep meaning of the Japanese culture through the authentic activities we share.”
“When we started there were many high school students who didn't care about Japanese culture,” Kyoko recalls. Through the work of the Japan Center she says her hope is, that “everybody who graduates has a little bit of a Japanese culture based mindset that will equip them to be a better global citizen.”
Through the rice project, one of the Japan Center’s signature programs in the Elementary School, Kyoko has already become familiar with the growth cycle of the grains, but she plans to swap rice for grape cultivation once she retires. Her plan, with her husband, is to start their own winery and the couple have already planted grapes in the Noto Peninsual area and in Nagano, where they own land. “My husband used to have a golf course in Nagano, but he though with an aging society doesn't make sense for the future and so he transformed part of the land into the solar farm and part into a vineyard,” she says.
Although this summer sees Kyoko retire from her position, her co-director Mariko Yokosuka will ensure the work of the Japan Center will continue into the future. As they approach their 10th anniversary year, we look forward to sharing more about the program’s continued growth next school year.
As she departs, Kyoko leaves ASIJ with a legacy of impact, her transition from the stage to the classroom exemplifying a commitment to preserve and share Japanese culture. By leveraging her artistic background and personal connection to traditions, she has inspired countless students in the performing arts as well as encouraging our community to appreciate and engage with the cultural richness of Japan.
Building community and breaking barriers, Rachael Fuchs ’17 talks to us about reshaping tech culture from within
When Rachael Fuchs graduated from ASIJ in 2017, she carried with her not just a high school diploma, but the seeds of leadership, community building, and a global perspective that would shape her path through MIT and into the heart of New York City’s tech industry. Those seeds have since begun to sprout and flourish, leading to Rachael’s nomination for the Young Alumni Changemaker Award.
Today, as a senior software engineer at Bloomberg LP, Rachael is not only working on one of the company’s most high-impact products, but she’s also reshaping what inclusive leadership looks like in tech. Her support of other women in
the workplace and the founding of affinity groups to build community with colleagues led the ASIJ Alumni Council Awards Committee to name Rachael as this year’s Young Alumni Changemaker.
"My day-to-day work is very technical," Rachael explains, referencing her role on the Instant Bloomberg (IB) chat team, which supports internal and client communication across Bloomberg’s ecosystem. One of the company’s flagship products, the tool connects people companywide, facilitates trade negotiations, and functions as a communications channel. "But what makes Bloomberg unique is its encouragement to build beyond your job title."
That freedom gave birth to something meaningful for Rachael and ultimately others as well. Inspired by her experience attending the Grace Hopper Celebration—the world’s largest gathering of women in computing—Rachael launched WINK (Women and Non-binary in New York Core Products), a grassroots initiative that now connects and supports more than 150 women and non-binary individuals across her department.
"We started small," she says, recalling the early days of trying to gather momentum post-COVID. "But it quickly became clear that a community like this was something people needed."
WINK organizes everything from technical lightning talks to social events, mental health check-ins, and philanthropic initiatives. One of their standout efforts is their annual Women's History Month trivia event, which brings fun and learning together in equal measure. The group also provides support and mentoring through activities such as their Eval Workshop which helps participants better prepare for their evaluations by bringing in female managers to provide advice and their perspective on the process.
That philosophy extends to another Bloomberg initiative Rachael leads: CC Engage, a group focused on bringing people together post-COVID through networking and shared learning. "After the pandemic, a lot of those hallway conversations disappeared. This group helps people reconnect."
These endeavors aren’t the first experience Rachael, whose sister Ariel ‘19 and brothers Aaron ‘19 and Reuben ‘21 also attended ASIJ, has had with leadership. In high school, she headed Hands On Tokyo, a student-led volunteer group, and credits those early experiences with teaching her the importance of community-driven action. "ASIJ gave me the
Rachael with her colleagues at Bloomberg
confidence to step into leadership roles, and living in Japan gave me the ability to think cross-culturally. That perspective has been huge."
Her path to software engineering was sparked early, too. “I already kind of knew in middle school that I was interested in technology and I would do any kind of technology classes that existed at the time. I think that the website design class was the first one where I did coding and we learned HTML,” Rachael explains. “And that's when I really found my passion for coding and then eventually did CSS and things like that.” In high school, Rachael sought out high level STEM courses, further cementing her passion further. She credits chemistry teacher Karyn Watt (FF ’11–’20) for expanding her love of science saying, “I was already interested in computer science and math, but she got me really interested in chemistry and science in general.” Her AP European history teacher Mark Johnson (FF ’05–’23) helped her find her voice. “I feel like he had the most unique teaching style that made me feel confident in speaking up in a classroom”
From ASIJ, Rachael went on to pursue computer science at MIT. There she thrived in a more gender-balanced environment—a contrast to her earlier experiences at school where she often found herself one of the only girls in the classroom.
Now, back in a male-dominated industry, she’s keenly aware of the weight and opportunity of representation. Rachel cites the many studies that have shown that diversity and diverse perspectives in the workplace make teams more successful and push boundaries further. "There are moments when you look around and realize you’re the only woman at the table. It comes with pressure, but also power. If I’m here, others can see themselves here too."
Do you remember the first time you walked through ASIJ's iron gates? The first time you jumped in the pool during PE class, strolled in the summer heat from Tama Station, or enjoyed a kiosk cookie?
Several Mustangs experienced an impactful first this year: a first gift to the ASIJ Annual Fund. First-time donors have been exceptionally generous this school year, comprising nearly a quarter of the ASIJ Annual Fund’s year-to-date revenue.
AS OF MARCH 31
27.2MM
Alumni spanning 1973 to 2023, deepening their connection to ASIJ in a special way.
Current parents from 11 of 13 grades, some honoring their child’s first year at ASIJ and others celebrating a longer tenure.
Grandparents, faculty, staff, and former parents whose children attended ASIJ years ago and remember their time fondly.
Our children have truly enjoyed the engaging and dynamic curriculum at ASIJ. They've also had the opportunity to experience diverse cultural events, build lasting friendships, and learn valuable lessons through self-reflection. The nurturing environment at ASIJ has helped them grow into independent, curious, and confident individuals. As they navigate life outside their home country for the first time, ASIJ has provided them with a safe, welcoming, and supportive community.”
—Chelsea Shi and Duan Wang, P '33 '35, first-time donors
The mid 1950s were a time of change. Japan was a new member of the United Nations and Tokyo was in a period of rapid rebuilding after the devastation of World War II. Near ASIJ’s Nakameguro campus, new restaurants popped up for students to frequent and ASIJ student-athletes began sporting an “M” for Mustangs on their Varsity jackets. For kindergartener Frederick Cohen ’69 there was the change of starting school at ASIJ where he was welcomed into the student body of 500 fellow learners.
Frederick “Rick” Cohen went on to attend from kindergarten through to high school graduation, starting at the school’s ivy-clad Nakameguro campus and moving to the new campus in Chofu in his seventh-grade year. He remembers his time at ASIJ fondly, from his friends, to the faculty, to academics and activities.
Now a retired pediatrician, Rick had a love of and aptitude for science even as a student. Gene Carlson (FF ’67-’69) taught Rick’s chemistry class, and after graduation Gene and Rick kept in touch, even fishing in Oregon, until Gene’s death in 2023. Rick spent some of his free time hanging out in the chemistry lab, working with friends on their own experiments. Laughing about some of their antics, Rick says “that’s the thing about ASIJ. Faculty taught the class material, but also
really encouraged you to get up to exploring deeper the topics that interested you.”
The connections Rick formed with his teachers had a great impact on how Rick has spent his life. Gene Carlson’s chemistry class supported Rick’s interest in science and led to a career in medicine. Retired now, Rick still is involved with the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps, offering virtual training on various health issues and maladies. And, still today, Rick enjoys both film and digital photography, stemming from his time as a photographer for the Hanabi.
“We would go to all the football games and take pictures and come back and develop the film in the darkroom.” Rick explained that the darkroom process was a bit of trial and error, “but we did it and got the photos in the paper.”
As a student, Rick enjoyed other arts opportunities. “Ki Nimori (FF ’60-02, P ’83 ’84), was the crafts teacher. I went to his class quite a bit. He was also the faculty advisor to the Folk Song Club, and I was in that as well. I couldn’t sing and really couldn’t play any instruments, but we had fun.”
Another faculty member that Rick remembers fondly is Warren Munzenmeyer (FF ’35-’39, ’53-’75, P ’78 ’80). “Even
when I didn’t take his class, he’d let me come to the art studio. He actually gave me a drawer, like all the other students, so I could keep all my art supplies in there and I could come in on my free time and do whatever I wanted to.”
As ASIJ’s impact on Rick has endured, so has Rick’s on ASIJ. Rick has donated to ASIJ for a tremendous 45 consecutive years, making him one of a dozen members of the school’s Quadruple Decade Club.
“I give to ASIJ because I have a lot of good memories. I had good friends, good faculty. At the time I was in school, there was probably a 25% student body turnover because of so many parents [whose companies kept them on the move]. Because there were so many new students, I found that people were so much more accepting of people who were new, or different, and there weren’t so many cliques… I have a fondness for ASIJ, and I started giving because I
wanted to continue to support the school.”
Rick, like many ASIJ donors, supports the ASIJ Annual Fund, which provides unrestricted support to the school’s operating budget. “I donate to the school, wherever you need. I remember when I was in my physics class, Mr [Leon] Hickok (FF ’68-’74) said somebody donated a laser. He said it was a really nice laser, but he didn’t need a laser,” Rick commented, explaining the need for flexible funding. “And I always remembered that. I think if enough of us donate, it’ll help [the school].”
Rick is right — all donations regardless of the amount make a positive impact and demonstrate your belief in ASIJ’s mission. ASIJ’s excellence will endure with the support of its community, and we are grateful for those donors who choose to sustain ASIJ with annual gifts, and those who are starting their philanthropic legacy with their first gifts this year.
From the first day we visited ASIJ with our son, we thought ASIJ would undoubtedly be the right school for our family. Over the many years since, this feeling has only grown stronger as we experienced the high quality of education, the dedication of the faculty, staff, and everyone in the school to make developing the students to their potential a priority, and the compassion to make the campus a safe place, physically, emotionally, and mentally, for all students. Giving to ASIJ, to us, is not only about showing our support for the cause of the school, but it is also about extending our gratitude for all blessings we have received as part of this community."
—Jasper and Takako Cheung P ’25
We give to the ASIJ Annual Fund because ASIJ never stops challenging students and families to be better learners. We have benefited from its progressive learning framework, arts and athletics enrichment, and most importantly, the faculties who Know, Value and Care."
—Rika
and David Jun Kasamatsu P ’26 ’29
Every gift, regardless of the amount, makes a positive impact. Beyond that, your gift demonstrates your belief in our mission and shows your support of ASIJ. Participation in philanthropy has a tremendous effect on our school.
Show your spirit by making your gift by June 30, 2025.
TO CONNECT TO THE ASIJ COMMUNITY IN A MEANINGFUL WAY
Giving Tuesday, our community-wide giving day on the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving, was a successful rally for the seventh year in a row. Thank you to the 300+ donors who gave nearly ¥37 million, building Mustang Momentum.
Thank you to Lila Thirouard-Kikuchi ’25 and Ruby Gardner ’25, who composed “The Sound of Momentum” song used in our Giving Tuesday video, with support from the HS Music Department and in collaboration with the Communications team Scan the QR code to watch the video
We talk to Cadell Lee ’25 about his journey from wrestling as a Mustang to becoming an Army Mule at West Point.
When Cadell Lee ‘25 first stepped onto a wrestling mat, he wasn’t thinking about college scholarships, NCAA titles, or the Olympics. He was four years old, and all he knew was that his older brother was doing it — and he wanted to be just like him. “I started wrestling at four years old, and I got into this sport because my brother first did it,” Cadell remembers. “At that young age, I kind of wanted to be like him, so I joined wrestling.”
That spark of imitation, so common in younger siblings, lit a fire that never burned out. Today, Cadell is a senior at ASIJ and on the cusp of something rare: a Division I
athletic career at one of the most prestigious institutions in the country — United States Military Academy, commonly known as West Point. For most student-athletes, getting recruited by a D1 school is a dream that demands not just talent, but years of relentless effort, discipline, and a mindset wired for growth. For Cadell, it's a dream that has become a reality, but not without its share of sacrifice.
His training is intense, methodical, and incredibly consistent. “Over here, they do it a little bit differently than America,” he explains. “So I get there, then we warm up for like 20 to 30 minutes, stretch out a bit, and then we start with like a
little bit of practicing for about 15 minutes. And then the rest of practice is live. So it's two, three-minute goals. And usually practice is like 2 to 3 hours.”
Cadell’s become a student of the sport, absorbing everything he can, reflecting on his technique, refining his movements. But perhaps the most transformative element of his journey hasn’t come from any drill or workout, but rather a few words spoken by a coach.
“Probably that I'm better than what I give myself credit for,” he says, when asked what’s stuck with him most. “Because I'm always a humble, modest guy. And so I was always like, ‘I'm just okay, or I'm good enough’… But then when you have coaches believe in you and tell you that you can do better and that you are better … it just gives you that belief. Once you start feeling it, then that's when you start producing it, you know?”
That shift — from self-doubt to self-belief — became a turning point. Cadell began to wrestle not just with skill, but with confidence. And when college recruiting season came around, that inner transformation was mirrored on the outside.
“For me it was a little bit different because I didn't have to do all the Common App thingies,” he explains of the West Point application process. “I still had to do the essays, but I didn't have to apply to multiple schools because I already had the school that I wanted to go to.” Of course, West Point brings its own unique requirements, including a letter of nomination from a member of Congress. Cadell secured it, taking another step on a path paved with persistence.
It’s clear the school saw something special in him. “West Point scouted me,” he says. “They can't reach out until the summer of sophomore year. And so I would say the very first
day at like 8AM, they called. They were one of the first schools to call me.” That early show of interest meant something. “It just showed the commitment they had towards me.”
Cadell admits that he’d hoped for this kind of recognition — but didn’t know where it would come from. “I was expecting it, but I just didn't know from where, you know.” That day, he received multiple calls from various schools. “I thought that was pretty cool because, as I said before, not everybody gets to go through this process of being recruited by like D1 schools and stuff.”
For a teenager juggling classes, training, and recruitment, that kind of attention could easily turn into pressure. But Cadell has a way of staying grounded. Maybe it’s his humility, or maybe it’s the way he now sees his journey in a wider context. This year, he’s taken on a mentor role, helping underclassmen navigate the very same mats he once struggled on. “Here I have been, like, taking freshmen and like helping them and giving them advice and helping them understand what wrestling is and what it can help you do,” he says. “I realized how much of myself I can see in them, and that's what really drove me to start helping them more.”
That experience gave him a deeper sense of purpose. It's not just about winning matches or earning titles—it’s about legacy, leadership, and lifting others up. Even when he's focused on his own goals, Cadell is thinking about what he can give back.
And the goals? They’re bold. “Short term right now is to be NCAA — not just a qualifier but place in the NCAAs,” he says. “And then later on I want to go to Worlds and the Olympics.” He says it calmly, like someone who’s already visualized the work it will take.
He knows the importance of staying ready, physically and mentally. “Conditioning is a key thing,” he says. “I make sure I do a bit of conditioning, like every week because if I get out of shape, then that's when everything starts to, like, fall apart.”
Outside of sports, Cadell keeps it simple. “Just to live a good life. I don’t know. Yeah.” He may be laser-focused on the wrestling mat now, but he’s already thinking about how to build a meaningful life off of it, too.
As for parting wisdom — what he’d tell younger students, especially those at ASIJ — Cadell doesn’t reach for a cliché. Instead, he offers a reminder that’s personal, grounded in experience, and full of perspective. “Don’t take this opportunity for granted,” he says. “Because it's really a privilege to go to a good school like this. So just make the most of it while you can, while you're here. It'll all turn out and be better in the end.” Though he’s only spent part of his high school journey at ASIJ, Cadell Lee leaves behind a lasting example of what it means to make the most of every moment.
Matt Wilce delves into ASIJTV’s origin story and hears from current club members about the rewards of covering campus events.
Attend any production in the ASIJ Theater and the audience’s focus will rightly be on the stage, but turn and face the back of the auditorium and you’ll see camera operators wearing headsets, their camera lenses trained on the performers. They are members of ASIJTV, the student club dedicated to capturing and streaming a wide variety of events on campus. Although there have been many changes to the technology and the club’s name over the years, ASIJTV is going strong in its fifth decade of operation.
The club can trace its origins back to the vision of a particular teacher, the Renaissance man Bruce Bryant (FF ‘77-’97, P ‘96, P ‘01, P ‘03). An avid "techie," Bruce began his 20 years at ASIJ in 1977 as a high school English and media/communications teacher as well as head football coach. Bruce is credited with starting the communications club in 1980, the precursor for what we now know as ASIJTV. Over time the club would evolve into the Media Productions Network/Tech Crew during his tenure and laying the foundation for our current ASIJ TV program. The communications club began humbly, offering school-dance and lunchtime DJs. It quickly grew to
sponsor and then produce the iconic Battle of the Bands, another program that began with Bruce in 1980. The club continued to grow and would capture important moments in theater, sports, and daily life around ASIJ, producing video and radio content for decades.
In the mid eighties, the club benefited when the communications studio was upgraded with the help of some engineers from Sony. Baard Moe’84 remembered that Bruce involved students in this process, telling the Alumni Shimbun that “this is something I can’t forget: that we were so much involved in planning. Prior to this all productions that I was involved in included a large rigging and down rigging of equipment. Now all we needed to do was to roll out the cameras and plug in the mics and we were ready to go. This reduced error sources and gave us much more time to concentrate on the real job: making a video production. The internal radio broadcast really got a lift in quality both for the listener and for the DJ.”
Bruce’s vision for the communication club and Battle of the Bands were no doubt impacted by the sabbatical he took at the University of Nevada-Reno in 1986, where he studied and worked at the College Arena. During his time there, Bruce worked on shows featuring iconic acts such as AC/ DC, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Murphy, and Aerosmith and filmed PSAs for the university. He brought everything he learned there back to ASIJ, inspiring students in all aspects of media production from closed circuit radio to the repair of cameras, and the cueing of newscasters. High School Principal Dr Robert Winer (FF ’81-’93, P ’04) noted that Bruce “and the students in his Communications club have provided invaluable service by videotaping our major school activities, including our various theatrical productions and numerous sporting events.” The club would continue to capture important moments in ASIJ’s daily life for decades.
Bruce’s legacy lives on today under the supervision of another long standing community member, Tai Dirkse ‘06. As the son of longtime math teacher Ron Dirkse (FF ‘74-08, P’06 P ‘09), Tai spent his formative years at ASIJ. “I wasn’t the most academic student but I participated in a lot of behind the scenes clubs,” he told us. “I participated in the web publishing club, tech theater, sports video and the club that is now ASIJTV. I spent a lot of time holding a camera and filming events.”
Called Media Productions Network at the time, Tai credits the club with helping him develop not just management and leadership skills, but also technical skills. “But most importantly, I think it mostly taught me how to react on my feet and quickly react to different situations, like equipment failure or unforeseen situations,” he says.
Tai’s time behind the camera at ASIJ led him to pursue visual media arts and film production at Emerson College in Boston. After graduation, Tai put his training and language skills together to gain further experience as a freelancer in the media industry in Japan. This included working as a production assistant on the movie Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (2010), which used ASIJ as a one of its locations, and as production assistant for overseas locations on TV Asahi's 旅サラダ (Tabi Salada). In 2013, Tai returned to the Chofu Campus to take a role at school overseeing a variety of special projects, that included ASIJTV.
Tai’s involvement with ASIJTV as a student and later as its faculty sponsor has bridged the transition from analogue to digital. “We used to use large professional cameras from the late 80s and transitioned to ‘modern’ digital cameras in 2004,” he notes. “One of the main benefits of having a digital and online platform is to the community. The content we record and stream can be distributed to a wider audience.” It was the need to shift away from the old practice of recording
video footage and then making VHS copies or burning DVDs to distribute content that brought Tai back to ASIJ.
“In 2012, I was brought in on a consulting basis to bring livestreaming to ASIJ,” he tells us. The concept of live streaming for consumers was still very new and Youtube had only just launched their live streaming service the year prior. “We originally launched ASIJTV with a webinar product called Kenja in 2013,” says referencing a system developed by alumni parent Ted Katagi (P ‘14). “Back then, live streaming was a lot more technical and you needed to know about the encoders and specific equipment needed for streaming. We also moved ASIJTV from 4:3 SD to 16:9 HD at that time.” As the technology progressed the club continued to look at different potential homes, eventually migrating to YouTube in 2017 as it became easier to use and more mainstream in its reach. “In the end, I think that was a good move because during COVID, we had upwards of six to eight live streams going on at once streaming from laptops, iPads and our traditional multi-camera setup,” Tai notes. The move was also timely as graduation ended up being live streamed in 2020 and ASIJ utilized a service called Broadway on Demand to stream the musicals to families as well.
Tai was hired to stay on as a full time member of staff in 2013 and has shepherded the club ever since. His impact on the students in the program was recognized this year
when he received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award. Each year, newly admitted University of Chicago students are given the opportunity to reflect on their time in school and nominate an educator who played a significant role in their education, made a positive impact in their lives, and whose influence has brought them to where they are today. Tai was nominated by one of the incoming class as the person who’d played a significant role in their development through their work together in ASIJTV.
The shift to streaming has also provided the wider community with greater access to what happens on campus with parents who are traveling, grandparents and former faculty all able to tune in remotely and watch performances, speakers, and sports games. Current club member Rose Knopp ’26 affirms that saying, “it's really nice that I'm able to do something for the community through filming these events, so that friends and family can see them from anywhere, and so anyone can see them at any point in the future.”
“I think one of the challenges of live streaming is that you have to be aware of mishaps such as costume malfunctions and injuries on the field ,” Tai says. “In professional TV, you have something called ‘deferred live’ where they intentionally delay broadcasts by a small amount — 30 seconds to a minute — so they can edit out mistakes. We don't have that.” Current club member Hanna Kubota ’27 notes that
she was not only “able to gain new skills concerning cameras and directing, but I was able to learn new skills to improvise when the unexpected happened.”
The amount of work students do hasn't changed much over the years as streaming still requires a similar camera setup and connecting the camera to a switcher. Tai notes that “ASIJTV/Media Productions, even in the non-live days, were live to tape,” meaning that the selection of camera angles and shots meant the recording was effectively edited in real time. Today, most live events have a minimum of three students involved, two camera operators and a director, although more complex set-ups may be required depending on the event.
A further way that technological changes continue to impact the program is the introduction of AI driven tools such as the Pixellot camera system installed in the high school gym in 2021. The advanced computing in the camera tracks the action on the court and, in real-time, cuts the footage together as if there are multiple cameras. It also monitors the scoreboard and overlays the scores on the video. The result is a smooth, professional sports broadcast that requires fewer human volunteers to operate. This means that our hard-working ASIJTV crew can be in more places at the same time and parents have more access to watching professionallevel live broadcasted events. “We still do some of the big
tournaments and sports that the AI cannot do but with the amount of events and the amount of club members, this has greatly reduced our workload,” Tai says.
The scope of what the club covers provides the students involved with a great perspective of the breadth of our cocurricular program. “I chose to get involved with ASIJTV because it allows me to see so much of our school, from sports to activities, arts, and events,” Lukas Sakagawa ’28 tells us. “As someone who's been at ASIJ for a long time, ASIJTV has always let me see what's going on at school, letting me stay connected even if I may not be able to attend in person. I wanted to support this. It also lets me explore my passion for cameras and videography.”
Current club leader Shihwan Kim ’26 had always been interested in film and photography as a medium, but prior to joining the club she had never had the opportunity to work with cameras. “I wanted a chance to explore that interest and work with cameras more often, as well as see what goes on behind the scenes at the live streamed events at ASIJ.” The opportunity to support other students was also appealing and she says, "I have a lot of friends who do theater, music, and dance; things that require them to be onstage. I really respect them, and I wanted a tangible way to support them that isn't simply watching from the audience. Making sure the live streams run smoothly is my way of doing that.”
ASIJTV is also the proving ground for refining many of the skills that will stand them in good stead in their careers, whether that is working in media or another industry. “I've learned a lot about collaboration and quick thinking from ASIJTV. Each shoot there usually is a whole different set of people manning the cameras, and as one of the main directors of the livestreams, I had to work quite hard to learn how to effectively guide my camera crew to get the best shots possible for the live streams,” Shihwan tells us. “This requires me to be able to talk to and communicate my vision with the camera crew, as well as come up with a way to get a good angle in the shortest amount of time possible.” The club has also been collaborating with other clubs more this year. “ASIJTV usually didn't have deadlines, but now that we have projects that we need to get back to the other clubs on time, we need to effectively communicate and work out who's willing to help them get that project done. It's a lot of back-and-forth with the ASIJTV members usually, but we always work something out in the end.”
While technical skills, communication and collaboration are all valuable outcomes of participating in the club, the strongest takeaway for many students is the sense of community — not only supporting their fellow Mustangs through coverage but building their own community. “The most interesting thing about this club, to me, are the members themselves. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, everyone
has different interests and are oftentimes not in the same classes or grades, but we all cross paths at ASIJTV,” Shihwan says. “Seeing ASIJTV continue to be the safe space that it had provided for me in my underclassman years is the most rewarding thing about being in, and now leading this club.”
ASIJTV www.youtube.com/@ASIJ_TV
Watch live coverage and recordings of sports, theater, and other events at ASIJ on the ASITV channel.
We celebrate the impact that former PE teacher and coach Sandy Jacobsson, who recently passed away, had on the development of ASIJ’s athletics program and the growth of women’s sports in the 1970s.
Sandy Jacobsson (FF ’72–’77, ’81–’87, ’95–’96, P ‘05, P ‘06, ’06) passed away on March 18, 2025, at Waterview Pointe Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Marietta, Ohio. She was 77 years old.
Sandy was born and raised in West Virginia and attended the Parkersburg Center of West Virginia University for two years before transferring to the main campus in Morgantown, where she received a bachelor's degree in physical education. She began her teaching career in Easton, Maryland, before starting at ASIJ in 1972. She then spent the next 40 years in Japan, save for a year back in the United States in 1977-78, as a PE teacher and coach, teaching at ASIJ, the International School of the Sacred Heart, and Christian Academy Japan.
As the eldest child and only daughter in her family, she was a pioneer and lifelong advocate for women’s sports after a family friend once told her parents that she was “pretty enough to be a cheerleader.” Sandy participated in women’s intramural sports while she was in school, because that was all that existed at the time, but she wasn’t content to leave it at that. The times were changing though and Title IX was on the horizon. Enacted by Congress and signed into law by
President Richard Nixon, Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid.
ASIJ was ahead of the curve and in a position to hire two new PE teachers for the 1972-73 school year and so Sandy was recruited from the United States to join the faculty in Tokyo. Sandy and her colleague, Dr Pamela Jones-Morton (FF ‘72-’77), were recruited with the remit of expanding the offerings for girls both in class and co-curricular activities.
“We took to each other right away,” Pam tells us. “Sandy was interested in basketball, and I was interested in volleyball and so she picked up the basketball program and started a JV program while I did the same with volleyball.” The school hadn’t had a JV program for girls until that point. “We literally had to convince some people that we needed gym space and gym time and things like that in order to get the women up to speed and be competitive,” she adds.
Deanna Adams Smith ‘78 tells us that she was lucky enough to play for Coach Sadler [as Sandy was known at the time] for five years in PE and in basketball. “When we moved to
Vicky Downs (FF ’59–99, P ’81 P ’84), Irene Gilman (FF ’94–99), Susanne Hayase (FF ’86–02, P ’85, P ’86, P ’99), Bill Jacobsson, Thurman Dennis (FF ’62–’93) and Sandy Jacobsson at the 2013 New York Alumni Reception.
Japan in 1974 I found out there was no girls basketball team,” she says. “I went to the boy's coach and said I wanted to try out. He must have gotten nervous that I really would do it because the next day Coach Sadler came to me and wanted to start a girls team!”
Pam wrote in the fall 1973 Alumni Newsletter that female interest in sport was growing, with the number of swimmers doubling from the previous year and the volleyball team expanding from eight to 25 players. Pam and Sandy created and coached the very first competitive women’s field hockey and basketball teams, leading Miriam Rich ‘76 to write in the Spring 1975 Alumni Newsletter that “girls sports at ASIJ experienced a great boom in popularity due to the comprehensive program set up by Ms Morton and Ms Sadler.” Deanna remembers that “Coach Sadler was a great coach — she didn't take anything from anyone,” and that she “helped us be the best we could be.” Deanna recently reconnected with Sandy and passed on that “she apologized for making us wear those awful PE uniforms that we all wore backwards.”
The yearbook from that first year of playing in the Kanto Plain League notes that Coach Sadler was “very pleased with the way the team had gained more understanding of the game.” Despite it being their first year in the league, the team finished in undisputed first place with five wins, no losses, and one tie. The girls basketball team also had a strong debut year, placing second in the league.
On the curricular side, Sandy and Pam were strict in enforcing attendance of their PE classes, brought in the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, as well as — rather unpopular — PE uniforms. Sandy was “strict in certain things, but she was a real dear,” Pam says. “I remember her as being a warm personality, a person who was dedicated to working out, staying fit, a person that was strict but fair. A person who was very concerned about each individual in their own right. She would talk to them and try to nurture them along. But as a coach, she was demanding. I think we both were.”
Pam notes that “we were very young, both of us only 24, and when we hit ASIJ, it was like being thrown to the piranhas.”
Well-established teachers such as Gary Fish (FF ‘65-’95, P ‘90, P ‘93), John Sullivan (FF ‘66-’89), Ki Nimori (FF ‘60-’02, P ‘83, P ‘84), Warren Munzenmeyer (FF ‘35-39, ‘53-’75, P ‘78,
P’80), Don Berger (FF ’59-’93), and Jack Collins (FF’70-’87) seemed intimidating at first. “All these people were very talented, multilingual, and had been around. And here we were, two little upstarts coming in. Both of us were kind of in awe,” Pam says. “But those people were just an amazing group of individuals who helped us to hone our skills. They basically made us the teachers that we ended up being in the future because they taught us both so much.”
Sandy’s first stint at ASIJ saw her teach kindergarten through third grade and junior and senior high PE full time from 1972-77. After taking some time away, she returned in 1981 and taught in the high school and newly established middle school during its first year.
While in Japan, Sandy met and married Bill Jacobsson (FF ’75–’08), with whom she adopted three children Sarah ’05, Peter ’06, and Timmy ’06 (FF’11-’24). She left the Middle School in November 1986 when children Peter and Sarah were adopted, but would return to ASIJ later to work as a first grade teacher aid in the elementary school for a year in 1995-96.
In true PE teacher style she made sure her own kids knew how to swim and ski and shoot hoops as soon as they could walk. Sandy supported her kids through everything – she was a proud Scoutmaster when Peter became an Eagle Scout; an eager reader when Sarah decided to pursue writing fulltime; and an enthusiastic spectator when Timmy competed in the 2013 CrossFit Regionals in Seoul, South Korea. The family described Sandy as a wonderful mother, grandmother, teacher, coach, and (ironically) cheerleader throughout the years and she will be greatly missed.
Both Sandy and Bill remained engaged with the community after their retirement, staying in touch with former colleagues and attending ASIJ events in the United States, where many former students reminisced on their time playing sports.
Today, the legacy started back in 1972 lives on, and while Pam regularly cheers on our team from afar watching ASIJTV, no doubt Sandy would also be very proud of the continued success of our female athletes — especially the field hockey team’s championship win at this year’s Hong Kong Invitational.
New York City, US
February 2025
Alumni Council member Briney Dillon Burley ’93 organized this year’s NYC Shinnenkai at the Gem Saloon in Manhattan. Alumni from 1967 to 2023 attended, connected, and celebrated the new year.
Briney shared, "I volunteer my time to plan alumni gatherings because I cherish my ASIJ experience, the alum community, and growing up in Japan. At ASIJ, I always felt accepted, encouraged and supported by faculty and friends, who are my best friends to this day. At ASIJ, I learned empathy, respecting difference and the value of understanding multiple perspectives. My third culture identity is something I am proud of. I would be a different person had it not been for ASIJ."
Tokyo, Japan
January 2025
Alex Bosch ’16, Aidan Hall ’15, Astrid Evenson ’15, Ingrid Evenson ’19
The Alumni Council hosted a Shinnenkai in Tokyo at DOZO Akasaka Biz Tower. Thank you to council members Eri Sumino ’14, Chelsea Jones ’11, and Miki Takashima-Ryo ’02 for organizing, and to the alumni ranging from 1980-2021 for attending.
Following the event Daniel Fillion ’92 P ’24 shared, “It’s great to reconnect with former classmates and great to expand your network by meeting alumni from other years. The shared ASIJ experience bonds us together”
Tokyo, Japan
February 2025
This year’s ASIJ/SMIS Alumni Soccer Tournament was a tremendous success, with a record turnout of over 70 participants joining in for an exciting day of soccer at St. Mary's International School. Thank you to Max Harris ’13 for leading the day, which also included alumni from Christian Academy in Japan, French School in Tokyo, and Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama.
Max shared, “It was truly special to see so many familiar faces, with alumni spanning from the Class of 2024 all the way back to the Class of 1993. The ASIJ Young Boys emerged victorious, securing their place as this year’s champions. We are excited to grow this tournament and look forward to making it an even more special occasion in the years to come.” Save the date for next year’s tournament on January 3, 2026, back at ASIJ.
What’s it like to make the transition form ASIJ to college in America?
That was the topic our Mustang mentors tackled on a panel of recent graduates in January. They spoke about their own transitions from high school to university and shared tips with our senior class.
Alongside their core and elective classes, ASIJ high school students receive an advisory curriculum. For seniors, this includes lessons in autonomy and independence. ASIJ’s Alumni Office partners with the high school advisory team to introduce seniors to ASIJ’s alumni program and networking resources, and encourage seniors to stay connected to ASIJ so the school can celebrate their successes alongside them. The offices also partner to develop
opportunities for seniors to connect with alumni, including a young alumni panel discussion focused on college life.
In recent years, about three-quarters of ASIJ students attend university in the United States. While some of our students have spent time in the United States, many have not. In an effort to help ease the transition to colleges in the United States and elsewhere, ASIJ hosted several
young alumni for a panel discussion about life after high school and the transition from ASIJ. Taking advantage of US universities’ winter break, the January session featured recent graduates who are currently enrolled in US-based colleges: Lisa Yamaguchi '21, Ryan Cokerdem-DePriest '23, Ryan Haddad '23, Sarah Annis '21, Annmarie Hashimoto '23, Ellie Reidenbach '22, and Aisha Rakyan '23.
As many alumni know, the transition from Japan to the United States, while rewarding, can be a difficult one. As our panelists described, you no longer have unfettered access to delicious konbini food on every corner, trains that run on time everywhere you need to go, and the all-time perfect snack, onigiri.
On top of that, you are managing your own time. “ASIJ has a very hands-on learning style. Your teachers are checking in and making sure you’re getting your assignments in,” Ryan Haddad illustrated, explaining that most professors will not check in as often as ASIJ teachers do. Sarah agreed: “I was surprised by how much I have to take initiative.” Ryan Cokerdem-DePriest explained that “It’s easy to lose track of your goal if you’re someone that needs those external forces. You have to be in charge of what you want to do.”
Lisa explained that the skills she learned at ASIJ have served her well. “I was surprised by how much ASIJ prepared me for college. We had the resource center and the work ethic, and I’m ahead of my peers because of the resources [at ASIJ]. Annmarie shared another perspective, that US-based students sometimes are able to take community college courses, and some people might feel like they are behind their college classmates. “Sometimes you will fail a bit. Don’t feel too bad,” Annmarie comforted.
Panelists discussed the deluge of social opportunities, and agreed that putting oneself out there can be scary, especially in a new place, so far from home. Annmarie advised students to “Just try out a lot of things and don’t be afraid to drop things.”
College students are also managing their health, often for the first time. Aisha posed the question, ”your lifestyle is going to change, how are you going to adapt to that to keep yourself healthy?” Panelists encouraged students to learn about their insurance options and on-campus health centers before they get sick. Ryan Haddad reminded students that their mental health matters, too. He explained that while there will be so many clubs and activities to get involved in, and a lot of coursework, “figure out what means something to you, to ground yourself,” whether that is exercise, music, or connecting with a trusted friend. Our panelists realized the importance of being in charge of your own goals, and encouraged students to own that for themselves, too.
Panelists shared practical budgeting advice that they learned quickly upon arrival to campus. Aisha and Ryan Haddad quipped, “when you’re going to the US, you’re having pasta every day.” Students were advised to get a job and set a monthly allowance to more fully experience your new home without a budget crunch. Everyone agreed that it is a good idea to “think twice before you spend money,” and Ellie suggested practicing converting prices to yen for a reality check.
The sentiments we hear again and again from alumni visitors of every generation were echoed beautifully by Ryan Cokerdem-DePriest:
“The things that you’re going to remember when you leave ASIJ are the people, the network, and the global community. These are connections you’re going to want to keep for the rest of your life.”
Panelists agreed, advising students to take advantage of the ASIJ bubble that they find themselves in now. “ASIJ people are everywhere. The person you never talk to here could end up being your coworker so take advantage of how close you all are now,” Aisha urged.
When asked what seniors should prioritize for the last semester, Sarah suggested that students study hard, but be sure to spend time with family and friends and explore Tokyo.
Alumni, what would you add to the list of final semester to-dos? Let us know at alumni@asij.ac.jp.
What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a question that we’re commonly asked growing up, but how do you learn about possible future careers and what the world of work is really like? The high school’s Future Ready Day provides students the opportunity to hear from professionals in a variety of fields to help them better understand their potential pathways.
Anumber of informative presenters spoke to high school students during our second annual Future Ready Day, a unique event that provides students the opportunity to explore diverse career pathways and gain insights into various potential areas of work. An inspiring keynote by Rick Fox, a three-time NBA champion, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, kicked off the day (see page 7). Rick spoke about resilience, the importance of mentorship, being present, and how service to others can bring deeper meaning to one’s work.
Following the opening fireside chat with Rick in the theater, our guest speakers, many of whom are current or former parents or alumni, led engaging breakout sessions across the high school. Speakers shared their stories, career journeys, and advice from diverse industries that included sustainability, music production, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
Five of our speakers were ASIJ alumni, who returned to their alma mater to impart their hard earned wisdom to the next generation of Mustangs. Thank you to Asami Tanimoto ’00, Saaya Sorrells-Weatherford ’05, Erin Neufer ’06, Yuka Sadayuki ’15, and Erina Yoh ’15. Check out some of their insightful advice.
Yuka Sadayuki ’15, a Tokyo based marketing professional, shared the advice, “Every chance is an opportunity. At ASIJ I challenged myself and did cheerleading, which I really didn’t plan on doing at all. It helped me build confidence in other sports so then I tried out for field hockey, and I raised my hand to be captain for field hockey as well. Cheerleading built the foundation for confidence.” She encouraged students to be flexible and take the unexpected as an opportunity, “ because [the unexpected] actually can help you discover more passions and more goals.”
Erina Yoh ’15, a global marketing expert, gave advice that was three-fold: first, “gain diverse experiences, whether that be joining a new team sport or joining a student run organization. It’s really important to explore different industries, and that [includes] internships. You want to explore different industries and roles to really figure out what you really want to do, what clicks, what doesn't.” Number two is to build a strong network, like “connecting with someone on LinkedIn or going to a networking event and meeting new people there.” Number three is to keep learning. “It's really important to stay curious and embrace new skills and adapt to change. Don't be afraid to try new things. Growth comes from stepping out of your comfort zone.”
Saaya Sorrells-Weatherford ’05, who co-founded a regulatory technology (RegTech) start-up, encouraged students to “find joy in pursuing things that are completely unknown to you. I learned to trust my judgment by leaning into discomfort. The more things I do and the more times I land on my feet, the more I trust myself and my abilities.”
Erin Neufer ’06 currently works as an actor based in New York City and has appeared in shows such as Julia, Blue Bloods, Gypsy, and Fellow Travellers. She remarked that ASIJ “provided a foundation for [her] as an actor and the whole experience of the opportunity to perform really set a foundation where this could be a career”. Erin left ASIJ before graduation but took the experiences of performing here to build confidence everywhere she went afterwards, “when I left ASIJ, I immediately knew at my new school that I could fit into the theater department”.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
March 8, 2025
On Saturday, March 8, a group of alumni and friends got together for dinner at the Japanese Kamei Royale restaurant in downtown Vancouver, BC, for a lovely evening. From left to right: Sandra Orton Tweed ’85, Nancy Wu ’63, Greg Tweed, Shiori Fennessy ’02, Michael Kern, Eric Downs ’84, Haruka Higo ’15, Dave Chalikulima ’88, Chris Kroehler ’84, Ummy Chaivaivid ’20, and Jeremy Sorensen
ASIJ, Tokyo, Japan
December 7, 2024
At ASIJ’s 50th annual Winterfest, alumni gathered to play human bingo, finding fellow alumni who “played a sport at ASIJ” or “lives in your neighborhood” before enjoying the rest of holiday fun that included student performances, an international food fair, and the holiday bazaar. Thank you to the Alumni Council members Eri Sumino ’14, Chelsea Jones ’11, and Miki Takashima-Ryo ’02 for organizing. Thank you to all our alumni and alumni parents for helping us create festive fun over the last 50 years.
Los Angeles, CA, USA
March 8, 2025
Also on March 8, 2,446 kilometers away from the Vancouver Mustangs, a group of ASIJ alumni and friends gathered at Far Bar in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, CA. Alumni from left to right: Samish Bir ’91, Eugene Nomura ’90, Niki Bryant Paschall ’96, Jennifer Poulson ’99, Naomi Hayase ’99, Kelly O’Brien ‘02, Willis Ong ’17, Janet Tomiyama ’97, Yuna Komurasaki ’24, Maple Moriji ’89. Thank you to Alumni Council Connect members Sandra Orton Tweed ‘85 and Naomi Hayase ’99 for their work keeping the US west coast connected!
You asked and we answered! We are inviting all young alumni to join us at the ELC on June 5 from 6-8 pm. Whether you are looking for a new job, itching for a way to reconnect with classmates, or simply miss the ASIJ vibe, join our upcoming Young Alumni Gathering.
On the agenda: reconnection, reminders of the power of the ASIJ community, and optional and complimentary LinkedIn headshots.
All alumni, former students and staff are invited to attend our Tokyo Alumni Community Reception at Meiji Kinenkan for an evening of reminiscing and reconnecting with mustangs from all decades. The following day is Spirit Day at the Chofu campus, a family friendly event with games, food trucks, spirit and more!
The Class of 1981 is in the early stages of planning a Tokyo reunion in Fall 2026 to celebrate 45 years! Stay tuned for more information. The incredible planning committee includes Debbie Krisher Steele, Joyce Stewart Parker, Sherry Davis Tighe, Lee Bowman, and Yuhka Mera.
October 17–19, 2025
Park City, UT, USA
The Class of 1987 is having a 38-year reunion October 17–19, 2025 in Park City, UT because they are missing each other! Email Drew Little (drew@juststartgo.com) for more information
Please join your fellow Mustangs for an awesome time in The City of Roses, Portland, OR as we celebrate our 40th reunion July 18–July 20, 2025.
All ASIJ alumni and staff are welcome!
Reach out to David Sheehan (davidwsheehan@ comcast.net) or Sandra Orton-Tweed (sandra@ prestonmatthews.com) for more information, like the hotel blocks, securing your spot in a foursome for golf or on the happy-hour cruise, and so much more.
This year marks the 20-year reunion for the Class of 2005, and we’re excited to extend the invitation to the Classes of 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well!
Join us on June 21, 2025, for this cluster reunion featuring daytime activities at ASIJ’s Chofu campus, and evening activities in downtown Tokyo. For more information and to RSVP reach out to Nick Harris (nickharrisjapan@gmail.com)
NYC,
The Class of 2020 Reunion will be the weekend of August 29 - 31, 2025 in NYC. Join the ASIJ Class of 2020 LinkedIn group for more information. Reach out to Arman Balian and Celine Maeda-Tarumoto for more information. They’re super excited to see you!
Please visit the website (https://sites.google.com/view/ asijclassof2000/home) for information about our 25th Reunion in Tokyo, Japan, from July 25 - July 27, 2025. Your class agents, Gary Yamada, Paulene Kawasjee, and Aimee Singer, would greatly appreciate it if you could submit your Google Form responses whether you plan to attend, can't come, or are still undecided. The website will be updated over the following weeks/ months as we finalize plans, and getting an accurate headcount now will be extremely helpful.
William L. Cryderman
Sandra L. Maclver
Charles C. Wu
To learn more about upcoming events and get in touch with your class agents, log into the Mustangs Online alumni portal.
Reiko E. Niimi
Elizabeth M. Yanagihara Horwitz
Carl E. Sundberg
Deanna Adams Smith
David E. Bergt
Isao Okada Herring
Kiki Skagen Munshi
Katherine C. Bauernschmidt Clarke
William L. Martino Nancy Wu
David Bonner
Scott Hutchinson
Susan Broe Parmelee
Margaret Meiers
Sherry L. Davis Tighe
Lisa Bastick
George Mimura
Grenda F. Penhollow
Nicholas D. Connor
David T. Sakamoto
Laura B. Hertenstein
Daniel Garnitz
Kathy K. Kobata
Suzukawa-Tseng
Sandra L. Orton Tweed
Diane E. Stewart Wack
M. Hasegawa
Fritz Hurd
K. Relnick
Maiko Galles
Briney Burley Mayumi Nakayama
Midori Kano
Margaret R. MacCallum
Yuki P. Maddox Vos
Sunny Shimizu
Vicky Carter Chen
Sarah Godfrey
Rose E. Hastings
Kacie E. Rosenberg Leviton
Naomi D. Hayase
Tamina M. Plum
Gary T. Yamada
Paulene Kawasjee
Aimee Singer
Kyoko Minegishi
Anna L. Tuttle Delia
Mifumi Asano
Tyler Beesley
Jason Mothersill
Tatsuya Izumi
Nick Harris 2006 Tai Dirkse
Mana Sasaki Kalohelani 2007 Carly Baird
Rosalind E. Onions 2008 Miles Bird
Jemil Satterfield 2009 Caitlin E. McHose
Ashley Teslik
2010 Kana Maeji
2011 Hannah T. Siegel
Philip T. Tseng
2012 Seung Joon Sung
2013 Lia Camargo
Andrew Deck
2014 Akira Camargo
Sayuri Sekimitsu
2015 Mina F. Hattori
Haruka Higo
2016 Ray M. Hotta
2017 Allessandra Rogers
Andy Takagi
2018 Hikari Shumsky
2019 Kenichiro Bernier
2020 Arman Balian
Celine MaedaTarumoto
2021 Karen Fukuda
Joshua Inahara
2022 Nio Kwan
Ellie Reidenbach
2023 Ryan Haddad
Tomo Ishikawa
2024 Anna Ito
Campbell Little
Shaan Shah Want to volunteer as a class agent?
Leslie Crandall FF ’54-’60 passed away on March 4, 2025. He was born and raised in rural Michigan, but destiny led him further afield. Leslie began his journey close to home, attending Hillsdale College where he majored in social studies with a minor in English and Spanish. After graduating, Leslie completed two years of military service, spending about 14 months in Korea where he achieved the rank of sergeant. After his discharge from the military, Leslie decided to pursue teaching as a career. He began with a position at Jonesville Community School in Michigan, where he taught fifth grade. As an Eagle Scout himself, Leslie remained active in the scouting world as an assistant district commissioner for Explorer Scouts in Hillsdale district.
He then moved to Japan at the age of 24 arriving in Yokohama on board the SS Contest on Friday, September 3, 1954. Leslie spent six years at ASIJ, teaching social studies and English in the junior high program. It was in Japan that he met and married his wife, Aiko, in 1956.
When former colleagues Bill Spooner (FF ‘56-’63) and his wife Peg (FF ‘57-’63) who had moved to Tokyo from Hawaii, kept mentioning how much they had enjoyed working at the Iolani School, it made Leslie consider a future move there. Once Leslie’s contract at ASIJ was up, the Crandalls left for Hawaii in 1960 and never looked back. Leslie would spend the next 38 years teaching at the school until his retirement.
Leslie is remembered fondly by former student, Jeffrey Peacock ’60, as “one of a kind” and he “will be remembered with affection and thanks for his years with us at ASIJ!” Frank May ‘62 remembers him as “one of the three or four teachers who had a major impact on my life…I speak of him often. A wonderful teacher and a great human being.” Ed Story ‘63 told us Leslie was “a wonderful teacher and great human being” and that he always attended events when he could, participating in various class reunions over the years. Ed noted that Leslie was “not voluminous in correspondence but always ‘there’.” He was a beloved member of the ASIJ community and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
S. BRUCE HEISTER P ’94 passed away on October 30, 2024. Bruce attended the Colorado School of Mines for Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, where the study and work habits he learned set him up for an international career as he developed an understanding of public policy and how to function in various cultures. After retiring, Bruce was involved in low income housing and drop-in centers for the homeless as well as the senior citizens’ services organization in Palo Alto. His daughter Megan ’94 attended ASIJ.
ZVI IONIS ’67 passed away on April 9, 2024. Born in Shanghai, China, Zvi received his first citizenship to Israel after fleeing to the country with his family a few years after his birth. Later, Zvi and his family moved to Japan where he and his siblings, Bella ’64 and Ze’ev ’69, attended ASIJ until graduation. After graduation, Zvi joined the Israel Defense Forces. After his service, Zvi moved to North America where he reunited with his former classmate, Colleen Arvin ’67, where they had three sons, Marcus, Louie, and Matthew, and Zvi ran a successful plumbing business for over 35 years. After some time, Zvi remarried to Bridgette Ionis, who sadly passed away. Until his death, Zvi was later married to Lulu Ionis. Zvi stayed connected and was very involved within the ASIJ community. He is survived by his three sons, and many stepchildren and grandchildren.
RUTH MOSS (KAMIKAWA) ’68 passed away on November 30, 2024 in Logan, UT. Ruth was born and raised in Tokyo to Japanese-American educational missionaries and attended ASIJ for 12 years. She attended Chapman College where she formally studied accounting and English, but really majored in “being a friend to everyone.” She later married Arthur Moss and together they moved to Utah where she worked at Utah State University in the toxicology program. Ruth taught Arthur the process of origami folding, which he continues now as a hobby.
YUKO MASUYAMA ’92 passed away March 4, 2025. Satoshi and Kengo share the following: Yuko and Satoshi met when Yuko was attending ASIJ, and got married in May 2001. They lived in Futakotamagawa, and Setagaya, for about 20 years, raised their son, Kengo, with deep love. They had such a wonderful family time together, enjoying travelling. Yuko said she was so happy to be able to spend 24 hours in her home with her husband and son during her last few days before she left for heaven. Yuko passed away at home being together with husband Satoshi and her son Kengo, and she will be their shining star now and forever. She will always be with us. Thank you for your love, Yuko! Love always, Satoshi & Kengo
ANN MCGURK ’53 passed away on July 15, 2023. Ann was born in Worcester, MA, and attended high school in both Tokyo and Maine before graduating in Virginia. Ann met her husband, Terrance, at Marietta College in Ohio. Together they lived in Colorado, Idaho, Georgia, Wyoming, and Indiana, finally settling in Litchfield, CT. For over 50 years, Ann hosted an annual open house, baking thousands of cookies. She co-founded a local chapter of Friends In Service Here, which connects volunteers with those in need of driving services to doctors’ appointments, and was a founding member of her county’s League of Women Voters. Having guests for supper was one of Ann’s favorite things, wanting to feed everyone who stopped by her house. Ann is survived by four of her five children, six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by one of her sons, her sister Judy Potter Marks ’55, and her husband.
MARY R. OLESON ’52, a lifelong globetrotter, died October 18, 2022. Mary was born in China and throughout her young years lived in Singapore, Manila, Japan, and Maine. Mary attended Wellesley College, graduating with a degree in mathematics. Mary met her husband, John, and they later moved to Washington, DC, where she began what would ultimately be a 30-year career with the Coast and Geodetic Survey (now part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps). In the 1960s, John’s work took them to Bilbao, where their daughter, Lisa, was born; to Mexico City, where their son Neil was born; and to Bogotá, where their son Eric was born. In the 1970s, the family lived in Paraguay, Bolivia, Egypt, and Honduras, where John served as director or deputy director of the USAID mission and where Mary continued to teach math in American schools, organized social functions related to John’s diplomatic work, and joined women’s groups doing charity work. In the 1980s, they returned to Maryland and Mary returned to her job with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. She earned a second bachelor's degree in computer science and started working in their IT department. As a feminist, she said she liked to think that she was doing her small part to add cracks to the “glass ceiling.”
JANE ELIZABETH ROWE-GALLAGHER
P ’11 ’19 passed away peacefully on November 7, 2024. Jane was the much-loved mother of Callum ’11 and Rhys ’19, the adored friend to many, and will be missed by all. As Australians, the time that Jane and her husband, Chris, spent as parents at ASIJ were formative. Jane was an active member of the ASIJ community volunteering in support of her sons in their sports and activities. She truly had the Mustang spirit, brought warmth and laughter to her interactions with everyone, and could effortlessly glam up an ASIJ football jersey. The ASIJ community members remember her as a “kind, generous, and loving presence.”
RON RIKIMARU ’58 passed away in December of 2024.
LINDA RUBENFELD ’65 passed away on February 2, 2023. Linda was born in Washington, DC, and spent three of her high school years at ASIJ before returning to the US to graduate. She earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and later completed her graduate studies in speech and audiology at the University of Houston. Linda worked as a speech language pathologist before her children were born, at which time she also volunteered in her community. She resumed her career after her children, Jessie and Sarah, graduated from high school. Linda was a lifelong reader, a passionate tennis player, and artist, painting still lifes and portraits and exploring ceramics and college as her life went on. In addition to her children, she is survived by her husband, Shelly, brothers Michael ’61, Jerry ’68, and Jon, and numerous other relatives.
ALICE SANODEN P ’70 ’71 ’75 ’78, parent of Kathy ’70, Jim ’71, Marcia ’75, and Bob ’78 passed away in St. Paul, MN, on the day before Thanksgiving 2024, at the age of 97. Her children spent many years at ASIJ and the Lutheran dormitory across the street in the 1970s. Alice and her husband Russell worked with the American Lutheran Church in Japan and served parishes in Shizuoka, Yugawara, Nagoya, and Miyazaki. She will be greatly missed for her kindness, intelligence, strong faith, and love of teaching and playing music.
MARCIA TROPP ’68 passed away on November 5, 2023. Dale ‘61 and Bobbie ‘63 write: Our darling sister is gone. She left us a year and a half ago on November 5, 2023. Marcia Sherri (for Japan’s cherry blossoms) Tropp was born and raised in Japan. She is survived by her sister Dale ’61, her sister Bobbie ’63 (both of whom also went to ASIJ from elementary school through high school graduation), and by her brother-in-law Stephan Hoeller.
The values given to us by our parents were reflected at ASIJ, and we were raised in an atmosphere of kindliness, integrity, and openness, and know the beauty and worth of friendship with all whom we encountered. It was a unique time and place. Upon returning to the USA and to a new culture, Marcia lived with a wonderful group of women in a wonderful house upon a hillside in Eagle Rock, and then in her tiny 100 year old house upon a hillside on Mount Washington. There she attended Occidental College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology/sociology.
Descriptions can never capture and convey the richness of a person, but following is something of an attempt. Marcia was an avid reader in all genres, interested in history, literature, cultures, music, the individuality of people, and the life of the spirit. She had a profound interest in philosophical and spiritual matters, and enjoyed associating with people of similar interests and dedications. She was full of insight, light, depth, and political acumen, and was a person of rare talents. Life for her was fascinating, but not always easy, yet she managed to remain herself in the face of adversity.
From Marcia and from us, we send warmest greetings and heartfelt thanks to all our old friends who were with us during those olden times.
MARY KATE NIX VOGEN ’49, lovingly called “Sissy” by her family, passed away on January 9, 2025. Mary Kate was born in Waycross, GA, and her early life took her across the globe, to Texas, Maryland, and Japan. After graduating from ASIJ, she attended Baylor University.
Mary Kate and her husband, Paul Duane Vogen, built their life in Macon, GA, where Mary Kate devoted herself to family and volunteered with multiple organizations. She was known for her kind spirit, quick wit, ready smile and devotion to family.
Alumna Ruth Harimoto ‘77 grew up in Japan and her two sons Taiei ‘05 and Taiga ‘11 also graduated from ASIJ. Ruth will retire from her role as school nurse in the Health Center this summer after 20 years of service to the community.
Where are you from?
I was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. I also lived in Minnesota in my early childhood. My whole family moved to Japan when I was nine years old, and I grew up here through high school.
What kind of student were you in school?
I liked school and was interested in most subjects, so I studied pretty hard and got decent grades. Not straight As, but mostly As and Bs. Ironically, biology was my worst subject!
Why did you choose to work at a school?
At first I chose to work as a school nurse because we had moved back to Japan and it was the only job I could do as a nurse with my American license. Then, when my kids were in school, it was great to be on their schedule. But in the end I chose to remain in a school nurse position because I like the work! There is so much variety, and it is never boring.
If you weren’t at ASIJ, what would you do?
I think I would be working as a CPR teacher, and also volunteering and traveling a lot.
What is your favorite thing about Japan?
There are so many things, so it is hard to say what my favorite thing is. I love the countryside, especially the area south of Shimoda in Izu. I love that public transportation is dependable and safe. I love that medical care is high quality, reasonably priced, and accessible to everyone. I also love the food! There is so much great food to eat here, and not just Japanese food, which of course is great. Foods from other countries are great here too,
such as Indian food and Italian food. The amazing thing is that you can even get good food at convenience stores here! I love that.
What is your favorite thing about ASIJ?
I really like the people I work with! Our Health Center team is great. My second favorite thing is the HS Library. The librarians are always so friendly and eager to chat with me about books and help me to find my next great read.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I wish I could play a musical instrument.
Who are your favorite writers?
My favorite author is Ivan Doig [English Creek , Dancing at the Rascal Fair, This House of Sky ]. I think that I own every book that he wrote! I was really sad when he died in 2015. I also love Amy Tan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Barbara Kingsolver, Edwin O’Connor, Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler.
Which living person do you most admire?
I truly admire Abraham Verghese. He is a doctor, professor, and author. I love the books that he wrote, and I love his philosophy about medicine. I feel inspired by him.
When and where were you happiest?
The year that my husband and I turned 60 our kids took us on a trip to Greece. We traveled a bit, and spent four days and nights on a small boat… just us and the captain. We sailed to new places every day, jumped off of the boat to swim to uninhabited islands, explored villages at the ports where we stopped for the night and ate delicious food!. It was like a dream!
Who are your heroes in real life?
One is Abraham Verghese, the author/ doctor that I already mentioned. Vivek Murthy, the previous surgeon general of the USA is another hero of mine. Francis Collins, the former director of National Institutes of Health too. There is obviously a pattern here. I truly admire these people in medicine who genuinely care about people, and use their skills and their platform to help people and to change the world.
What is your most treasured possession?
Everywhere I go I look for beautiful rocks, especially rocks shaped like hearts. I love my heart-rocks! They are all over my house, on shelves, in jars, and in the garden. I even had some embedded into the floor of our genkan.
... that’s why our alumni portal is designed to make it easier than ever for you to stay in touch with us and your fellow ASIJers around the globe. Mustangs Online is a dynamic site for alumni, alumni parents and former faculty and staff packed with news, information about upcoming events and reunions, photo galleries, internship and job opportunities, and directory. It also hosts digital copies of yearbooks going back to 1919, past issues of The Ambassador magazine and a selection of Hanabi articles and content from the archive.
To make the most of this service, we’ll need your email so we can send you information and help you get started. If we don’t already have your up-to-date email, please take a moment to drop us a line at alumni@asij.ac.jp.
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